{UAH} Uganda approves five firms to deal in free-to-air decoders

Uganda approves five firms to deal in free-to-air decoders

Thursday 13 February 2014 | 16:58 CET | News

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has approved five firms to deal in the import and sale of free-to-air TV decoders, opening up a market that has been dominated by pay-TV providers. The companies allowed to deal in the DVB-T2 devices are Widestar Digital, Icomsys Africa, Brivid Uganda, Syscorp and Trans-African Container Transport, the Daily Monitor reported citing a source familiar with the deal at the industry regulator.  The source said the free-to-air decoders will start arriving in the country either in February or early March. Uganda's decision to open up the market for dealers in the devices stems from unwillingness by the pay-TV providers, including Multichoice, StarTimes and Zuku, to sell free-to-air decoders. Uganda switched to digital broadcasting in August 2013, starting with the central region, with Uganda Broadcasting Corporation as signal distributor running both analog and digital platforms simultaneously. This was meant to allow more consumers to acquire decoders ahead of the overall digital switch slated for December. 

Categories:	Broadcast & Satellite
Companies:	MultiChoice / StarTimes / UCC
Countries:	Uganda

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower