BY PATRICIA SIBANDA INFORMATION and Publicity deputy minister Kindness Paradza has revealed that government will for the first time in 42 years connect Binga to local television and radio.
Speaking at the World Press Freedom Day commemorations in Bulawayo this week, Paradza said the country would need more than 3 million decoders to enable citizens to access radio and television signals once transmission is changed from analogue to digital system.
“So in Binga, on the 25th of this month, we are going to give them what we call set top boxes. These are decoders to enable them to watch ZBC for the first time in 42 years,” Paradza said.
“As a country we need around three million decoders so that people are able to watch ZBC and other new channels including DStv once we completely abandon the analogue system and digitise.”
He said the Information and Publicity ministry would source a number of top boxes which it would be offering for free to the public.
“As government, we have also put up a tender to procure 100 000 of these set top boxes, which we are going to be giving out for free in outlying areas to people who are unable to buy them.
“We have also licensed six privately-owned television stations, and one of them is in Bulawayo. We are busy dealing with digitisation,” he said, adding that the programme began in 2015.
“So far we have put up 48 transmitters and out of these 18 of them are digital compliant. One of the transmitters is actually in Binga and another is at Montrose in Bulawayo.
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“We have also allowed a company from East Africa, Azam TV, to operate in this country, so that people can watch the channel as well. So this is what we are doing as a ministry.”
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