OVERVIEW OF INTERSESSIONAL ACTIVITES

1. OVERVIEW OF INTERSESSIONAL ACTIVITES Eng. Taha A. Usi Ag. Zonal Manager TCRA, Zanzibar tahausi@tcra.go.tz

2. A D Migration/Transition Intercessional activities are concerned with the process of going from analogue to all-digital broadcasting

3. Agenda • Background • Decision of the first session of the planning conference⇨ RRC-04 • Intercessional activities ⇨ COM5/1 • The example of East African countries • Planning considerations • Milestone • Challenges • Conclusions

4. Back Ground • ITU Council decision - In 2001 and 2002, The Council adopted Resolution 1185 and 1180, by which it agreed to convene Regional Radiocommunication Conference -RRC- in two sessions, for planning of the digital terrestrial broadcasting service in parts of Regions 1 and 3 in the frequency bands 174-230 MHz and 470-862 MHz.

5. Back Ground cont. • ITU REGIONAL RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE GENEVA SWITZERLAND (10/05-28/05/2004) (RRC 04) • 1st session of the planning conference • Report and Resolutions: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/conferences/rrc/rrc-06/index.asp • Outlines all the work to be carried out between the first and second sessions of the planning conference. ⇨ Intercessional activities

6. Intercessional activities • RES. COM5/1 deals with Intercessional activities on the planning of digital terrestrial broadcasting. PXT RES. COM 5/1 RES ITU STUDIES COM4/2-7 IPG RES. PLEN/1 RPG Rpg w/p

7. Intercessional activities cont. • Objective: • To produce draft digital Frequency Plan for digital terrestrial broadcasting service in parts of Region 1 and 3 in the frequency bands 174-230 MHz and 470-862 MHz. The draft plan is to be submitted to the second session of the RRC 15th May – 16th June 2005

8. The example of E.A countries • Actions taken so far include: • Carried out site surveys, technical analysis and confirmed suitability of transmit sites and accuracy of the associated parameters such as coordinates. • Updated and submitted the existing analogue GE 89 plan to the ITU for modification • Determined the broadcast transmit sites • Submitted to the ITU requirements for the first planning exercise.

9. Planning considerations • Kenya • No protection of other primary services in the broadcast frequency bands • Protection of GE 89 channels that are already assigned to broadcasters plus a number of channels in towns/cities that may be used soon • No protection of channels beyond channel 62 • DVB-T only in band IV and V. There will be no DVB-T in band III • There is no new assignment of TV frequencies in band III as the band is earmarked for T-DAB. • The planning is based on assignment planning, fixed reception mode and Multi Frequency Network

10. Planning considerations cont. • Tanzania. • No protection of primary services • Protection of GE 89 channels is to stations of national coverage only • DVB-t in bands III, IV and V • There are new assignments of TV frequencies in all bands • Band III will also take T-DAB • There will be assignments, allotments, SFN and MFN; fixed, mobile and portable reception

11. Planning considerations cont. • Uganda: • Country divided into 14 zones. Economic activities/levels considered in the distribution • Existing sites taken as part of digital requirements • Assignment planning, fixed reception RPC 1 have been adopted • Band III reserved for public broadcasting services providers

12. Milestone • Information meetings aiming at sensitizing these countries on the activities of RRC-06 have been conducted in all of the East African countries: • The resent concluded East African Regulatory Posts and Telecommunication Organization –EARPTO- noted that the three member state had made good progress on the preparations for RRC-06

13. Agreed • Develop common proposals including the date for the start of the transition period for digital terrestrial broadcasting for East African countries. • Identify possible awareness mechanisms thorough which stakeholders can be encouraged to participate in the preparations of RRC-06 and transiting from analogue to digital environment • Propose common implementation strategies for new digital broadcasting plan

14. Agreed cont. • These countries agreed to constitute a taskforce to be coordinated by Uganda. Terms of reference of the taskforce would include: • Formulate work plan and roles to be played by the various stakeholders involved in the preparations of the RRC-06 • Coordinate the national requirements of the three East African countries before submission to ITU. The taskforce will meet in July and September 2005 to coordinate and harmonize the input requirements prior to the dead line of 31st October 2005

15. Agreed cont. • All the three states should participate in ITU –RRC related meetings • The regulators should ensure that the respective governments were informed on the progress of RRC-06 activities.

16. Challenges • Reaching bilateral and multilateral agreements between and among member states regarding Channel Incompatibilities that might arise. • Submission, by administrations, in time, of correct planning requirements to the RRC planning bodies • Maintaining compatibility among services and broadcasting formats

17. Challenges cont. • Funds to institute the change • Seamless transition • Maintaining compatibility among services and broadcasting formats • Favorable conditions for digital broadcasting to be introduced and developed • All digital broadcasting calls for fully developed IP based multi-service networks

18. Challenges cont. • Effective participation by Administrations in the IPG, RPG, Study Groups, RRC-06 and the short conferences after the main conference

19. Conclusion Administration need to consider the following measures: • The setting of Initial pilot schemes for players in digital broadcasting to gain knowledge and experience • How the consumers would be sensitized into accepting the new technology rather than inherently clinging to the old analogue equipment just because of experience

20. Conclusion cont. • There is need for Administration to establish national committees of relevant organizations to effectively organize the resources needed for the coordination of the transition • The right of all countries should be respected. Hence bilateral agreements regarding incompatibilities among neighboring countries are of utmost importance

21. The End Thank you for your attention