Public warned about bogus DTT Training Centres
Public must be wary of bogus DTT training centres.
Members of the public must be wary of bogus DTT training centres, warned Faith Muthambi, Minister of Communications. The bogus institutions purport to offer short courses on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) set-top box installation.
According to Minister Muthambi, the Department of Communications had been inundated with calls from people wanting to verify the legality of these institutions. “Members of the public are urged to refrain from attending courses offered by these institutions. These centres are operating illegally and have no accreditation. As the department we are yet to make an official announcement on which centres will be accredited to offer such courses,” said Minister Muthambi.
The Department of Communications is working closely with the Department of Labour to design an accredited course for DTT installers. Once the course content is finalised, the Department of Communications will communicate through various community and main stream media about where interested individuals can go to undertake such training. While the process of migrating from analogue to digital television presents economic opportunity for South Africans, people must be vigilant and avoid being robbed of their hard-earned money.
DTT is a reliable and more cost efficient means of distributing linear television content and has many advantages over the old, analogue broadcasting that is still in use today. Digital migration refers to the switch from an analogue broadcasting system to a digital broadcasting system and this has been a world-wide move. In order to view digital television signals on an ordinary analogue television set, consumers will need a so-called set-top-box.
The purpose of the set-top-box is to convert the DTT signal for reception on an ordinary analogue television set. If consumers haven’t acquired a set-top-box by analogue switch-off, they will no longer be able to view the existing terrestrial television broadcasting services. The department anticipates the roll-out of set-top-boxes to be completed in the coming 18-24 months so that South Africans can switch off analogue signal and begin to realise the benefits of digital dividend to allow for the roll-out of Wireless Broadband Services.
It is advisable for members of the public to check and verify the accreditation status of any training centres. A register of all accredited training institutions in South Africa is available at the Department of Higher Education and Training at www.dhet.gov.za.
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