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When digital terrestrial television (DTT) arrives, we will all need decoders to receive the new TV signals. These are decoders that all pay TV customers already have.
The rest of us will have to buy new ones, while others will receive theirs for free.
If you want to keep watching free-to-air TV (SABC, e.tv and community TV), you’ll need a decoder. In South Africa, they are also called set-top boxes.
For the past three years, there have been many stories in the news about “set-top box control”, “conditional access” and “unconditional access”.
But what does this actually mean? Why has the dispute about digital TV decoders led to two court cases and elicited three different government policy positions from three consecutive ministers? And what does it mean for you?
What is set-top box control?
This is the technology in a decoder that allows broadcasters to protect their TV shows from being pirated or viewed illegally. It decides who can receive a broadcast and ensures that government-subsidised decoders are not stolen and sold in other countries.
In South Africa, there are three options:
. Simple set-top box control (also known as unconditional access)
. Conditional access
. Encryption
Simple control, the kind called for by Minister of Communications Faith Muthambi, is a basic on/off switch for preventing theft, as in the case of stolen cellphones.
Encryption is used to protect against piracy by scrambling the broadcast signal while it is on its way to your TV set. The decoder then unscrambles it as it arrives.
Conditional access, which is key for pay TV broadcasters, has encryption and allows them to control who has access to their broadcasts.
Encryption and conditional access are two different technologies that can be offered in the same solution, depending on the broadcaster’s needs.
Why is set-top box control such a divisive issue?
Understanding the positions of the different broadcasters and decoder manufacturers helps explain what is at stake when it comes to decoder control.
There are two camps. There are those who want a full-control system with conditional access and encryption. This group includes e.tv, a faction of the National Association of Manufacturers in Electronic Components (Namec) and the SA Communications Forum (SACF).
Then there are those who want simple set-top box control (unconditional access). MultiChoice (DStv), the SABC and another faction of Namec fall into this group.
The simple set-top box camp says that adding conditional access to DTT decoders is too expensive and therefore not in the public interest.
Government and MultiChoice CEO Imtiaz Patel argue that DTT decoders are only a stepping stone, and that technology is moving towards integrated digital television sets with decoders already built in.
Patel adds that if free-to-air broadcasters such as e.tv had conditional access, then the decoder would allow them to offer pay TV services while being subsidised by government, which provides the decoder.
The Namec faction says that if conditional access is installed in decoders, it will benefit established white-owned manufacturers and harm new, black manufacturers because more start-up capital would be needed.
The SABC wants all types of decoders, from simple to encrypted, to receive its free-to-air channels in line with its public broadcast mandate.
In the other camp, critics – including a different faction of Namec – accuse MultiChoice of co-opting the SABC and Namec so that it can prevent the DTT decoder being used to launch pay TV services by competitors at a later stage.
MultiChoice denies the claim.
When it comes to set-top box control, e.tv further argues that a simple decoder will limit the types of high-definition (HD) premium content that free-to-air broadcasters can buy for their channels because TV producers want their content encrypted to stop piracy.
They say not adding conditional access will make for a second-rate DTT platform, while conditional access will offer a better viewing experience. They fear simple decoders may create a division between welfare TV for the poor and premium TV for the rich (who have conditional access on their existing decoders).
The SACF argues that the DTT decoder must be as advanced as possible, including being able to provide internet access, so that it can help level the playing field in the broadcast sector. They say it will enable new entrants to the market and internet access will allow value-added services such as video on demand in the future.
Policy shifts andlegal challenges
In March this year, Muthambi changed the Broadcast Digital Migration Policy backed by government under previous communications minister Yunus Carrim, which supported conditional access with encryption. She opted to replace this with simple set-top box control.
Last month, the North Gauteng High Court heard a legal challenge brought by e.tv to contest the about-turn, which it called “irrational”.
It asked for the new policy to be reviewed and set aside because the amendments were “unlawful” and not within the minister’s powers.
The court, however, ruled against e.tv, saying that the minister was within her rights to change the policy and e.tv was granted leave to appeal. It is still unclear if this will delay the digital migration process further.
Interoperability: One box vs many
Industry experts say the other benefit of smarter decoders is interoperability. An interoperable decoder is able to house many different broadcasters in one box – both free-to-air and pay TV.
Independent broadcasting consultant Dimitri Martinis says: “Interoperability in the ideal world is a generic box – and I can take any card from any content provider and slot it into that box.”
But this is most likely not going to happen.
Martinis says that because MultiChoice’s business strategy will not allow anyone else to use its encryption system, named Irdeto, there cannot be interoperability with its services in South Africa.
New entrants in the TV market will have to invest in rolling out their own decoders instead of being able to buy into an existing interoperable one.
And consumers will most likely be buying a different decoder for each TV service.
HD and premium TV for all?
HD is the future of TV. It offers digital viewing at a high pixel resolution, which makes for a crisp and perfect picture, such as one gets with a movie on the big screen.
As the world creates more TV in HD, will free-to-air viewers also benefit?
Loren Braithwaite Kabosha, executive director of the SACF, says that simple set-top boxes without encryption will most likely limit the ability of free-to-air broadcasters to trade in HD and premium TV.
Premium content is generally understood to be live sports, the latest movies and the latest seasons of popular TV shows.
Hollywood studios producing a lot of premium content are becoming increasingly concerned about protecting the way that content is distributed, to prevent piracy. Simple set-top boxes are not secure enough for them.
“Premium content is all about exclusivity,” adds Martinis. Most studios sell the rights to their premium content to whoever wants to pay the most to show the latest season or movie.
“So what the studio will do is say that, for the next five years, whatever we produce, you have first right of refusal.
“M-Net negotiates the big studio deals because it is the price maker that is dominant in the South African market,” says Martinis.
“But does premium only belong on pay platforms?” he asks.
“How do you survive in the free-to-air sector? You get advertising from large audiences. If you’ve got exclusive content, you are going to draw the large audiences.”
MultiChoice and the SABC have constantly argued that having a simple decoder will not affect the free-to-air broadcasters’ ability to secure HD content.
That’s true, say critics, but it applies mainly to local content, not premium content.
Some fear that a choice of more HD and premium TV on pay TV platforms will drive viewers away from the SABC, e.tv and community broadcasters (see graphic) and cheapen the free-to-air platform.
Yet local content is king in the South African market. The most viewed channels on DStv Premium and DStv Compact are the free-to-air channels, especially the SABC ones.
Critics say it may not make a difference to wealthier consumers if they are watching SABC on a DTT decoder or an M-Net decoder. The issue is the devaluing of the DTT broadcasting platform.
There are fears that the free-to-air sector¬and public broadcasting will suffer in the new digital era.
As it is, e.tv and SABC are already divided and on opposite sides of the set-top box war.
*This series on digital terrestrial television is produced in partnership with the SOS Coalition
