On Friday, June 3rd, 2009, The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) released a statement regarding the the finalisation of DTT regulations and mobile tv licensing issues. It comes out from the ICASA statement that as far as the digital transition in the rainbow nation is concerned, the regulator needs a review of the time-frame for the migration from analogue to digital television, given the fact that the dual illumination period (transition period when broadcasters will broadcast in both analogue and digital) expected to start from November 2008 till November 2011 actually took place later. According to an official from ICASA, despite this call for review, the current deadline will still be retained for South Africa, as the other SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries, agreed on the switch over to DTT by 2013.

As for the mobile TV licenses, it seems like ICASA is planning to appoint mobile TV operators before the end of this year, in order for these operators to be up and running with cellphone broadcasts by the time the World Cup kicks off. A move strongly appreciated by SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) the state-owned broadcaster providing 18 radio stations (AM/FM) as well as 4 television broadcasts to the general public. In fact, SABC wants to fill its empty coffers as it is currently R839m in the red and the licensing operations is expected to generate millions of rands in income for the public broadcaster, especially considering next year’s Soccer World Cup. Millions of South Africans and foreign visitors are expected to watch matches on their cellphones.