AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH TO ANALOGUE DIGITAL TRANSITION IN RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTIN

ABSTRACT

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has directed some countries of the world to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting service before June 17, 2015. This transition has many challenges which have been approached in many ad hoc ways by several countries. This study is aimed at formulating a model that could measure the degree of success of the digital transition programme at any stage of the process. It uses control engineering approach, particularly the state variable analysis, to  direct  the preparation and  implementation of the transition exercise. Success factors which include: teamwork across the value chain (T), strong leadership (L(t)), effective communication strategy (C) and sufficient financial resources for the transition (R), are identified as the key parameters of the transition. The result from the model simulation shows that the degrees of success of the transition programme when the inputs are bad,  poor,  fair,  good  and  excellent  are  18.40%,  36.80%,  55.2%,  73.60%  and  92.00% respectively. The study is significant in that it develops a model that could measure the degrees of success of the programme, when the success factors (inputs) and the initial conditions (    ), are known. A model for sustainability of digital radio and television broadcasting is left for future research.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Study

The transition from analogue to digital broadcasting may be described as one of the imports of the digital revolution, which has changed the life and the environment of mankind positively. Another importance of this revolution is the Internet, which has transformed human communication, giving  rise  to  changes  in  human  interactions  and  the  information society. Analogue broadcasting is the dissemination of video and audio information contents which are conveyed by modulating/demodulating the electromagnetic waves [1]. An analogue signal is carried by the size of some attributes of the signal such as the amplitude, the frequency or the phase of a voltage [2]. But digital broadcasting starts with the conversion of information contents into digital bits of 0s and 1s.

These bits are transmitted by the electromagnetic waves to a receiving set that interprets the digital bits in order to recover the original information contents [1]. A digital signal alternates between 0 and 1 unlike its analogue counterpart which is continuous in nature [2]. In the digital realm, when a microphone receives a voice signal (analogue signal), the speech is sampled and given a digital value by a radio device [3]. Subsequently, a voice coder in that device does the work of changing the voice signal into a digital data packet [3]. The transition from analogue to digital broadcasting is simply a method of shifting the broadcasting of radio and television programmes from an analogue format to a digital format [4]. This is very important because of the numerous benefits that the latter has over the former. The benefits include provision of better quality of sound/pictures and efficient utilization of the radio frequency spectrum [5].

Digitization provides additional radio and television programmes, it also guarantees portable and mobile service reception [5]. Economically, digitization could increase the revenue generation through reduction of transmission costs and provision of superior technology for storage and processing of contents [6]. It also helps in job creation [4]. Socially, it has the ability to offer distinct services to accommodate people with sight and hearing deficiencies [4].

Apparently, it is these advantages of digital broadcasting that informed the ITU’s resolution in its

2006  Regional  Radiocommunications  Conference  (RCC-06).  The  resolution  directed  all countries of Europe, Africa, Middle East as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting services by 2015 [4]. The mandate has set up a digital terrestrial broadcasting plan on Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands [7].

The VHF band lies between 174 MHz and 230 MHz and the UHF band ranges from 470MHz to

862 MHz. Also, the mandate put in place a time table for the transition programme by setting

17th June 2006 as the kick off date and 17th June 2015 as the deadline. The deadline marks the end of international protection for analogue broadcasting transmissions in the affected bands [8]. The implications of this mandate are multiple and diverse. Specifically, it comes with economic, political, social and technological challenges which affect all the stakeholders in a variety of ways  and  dimensions  [8].  Economically,  the  consumers  would  be  required  to  replace  all analogue receiving sets or upgrade them before they could receive digital broadcasting services [6]. The content providers would be required to create enough quality contents to occupy the multiple channels that could be available in order to avoid content recycling [8]. The signal distributors need to invest in human capacity development and upgrade or make a total replacement of all the analogue transmission equipment.

These conditions are to be met before the full dividends of digital services could be harnessed [6].  Politically, the transition programme could not take place in a legislative vacuum, meaning that it requires amendments to the existing legislations or the enactment of new ones [9]. The environment may be affected negatively as digitization would generate extra electronic waste which is capable of causing environmental degradation if left unchecked [9].

1.2  The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Guidelines

Being conscious of the above challenges, including the digital and economic divides along regional/countries lines, the ITU has developed a workable guideline. This guideline intends to serve as a basis upon which regions/countries could develop their individual functional roadmaps for the migration process [10]. The guideline is dependent on functional frameworks required at each level of the programme. It contains different tiers as stated in [14] and they include:

A.  Policy and regulation,

B.  Analogue Switch-Off (ASO),

C.  Market and business development, D.  Networks,

E.  Roadmap development.

The tiers/layers A and B are for government driven migration exercise, layers C and D are for market  driven process and  layer  E  is  associated with  both government  and  market  driven programmes [10]. This thesis is interested only in government driven digital transition programme. The guideline is shown in figure 1.1 below.

Figure 1.1: ITU guidelines for digital transition [14]

1.3  Regional/Country Transition Roadmaps

A roadmap is an instrument for prediction targeted at planning and executing a plan. It consists of different stages which include project preparation, its development and implementation [12]. To ensure a defined sense of direction and timely arrive at a destination, some Regions/Countries have come up with clear roadmaps to guide them in their journey to digitization. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is one of those regions that have put action plans on ground to drive home the new technology. This roadmap provides a guide on regional coordination in the areas of key policy, regulatory, operational and implementation issues [13]. The roadmap is given in [13] and it is shown in table 1.1 below.

Table 1.1: COMESA Roadmap to Digital Broadcasting for Its Member States [13]

No	Activity				Starting Date		Ending Date	Responsible Body
1.	Set  up  National  DTT  migration Committees				Mid 2009		April 2012	Member States
2.	Stakeholder consultation				Mid 2009		Ongoing         until	Member States
							after switch-over
3.	Development	of		technical	January 2012		April 2012	ARICEA Technical
	specifications fo	r STB	s					team
4.	Development	of     harmonized			January 2012		June 2012	ARICEA Technical
	frequency plans							Team
5.	Regional and National spectrum plans and interference review				June 2012		Every six months	ARICEA
6.	Consumer awareness				Beginning 2009		Ongoing         until	Member States
							after switch-over
7.	Annual DTT Forum				Annually	in	June 2015	COMESA
					November			Secretariat
8.	Adoption    of	DTT		migration	November 2011		January 2012	COMESA
	strategic plan template							Secretariat
9.	Completion   of   national   policy				December 2011		April 2012	Member States
	and   strategy   plans    on   DTT
	migration
10.	Special Session for ICT Ministers				May 2012		May 2012	COMESA Secretariat
11.	Digital Dividend Review				Early 2012		End of 2012	ARICEA
12.	Conduct DTT trials and DSO				June 2012		December 2012	Member States
13.	Dual illumination period				Mid to End 2012		End of 2013	Member States
14	Monitoring and review				2012		Ongoing         until	COMESA/ARICEA
							after switch-over
15.	Analogue Switch off				June 2013		June 2014	Member States

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1.4  The Success Factors for the Digital Transition Programme

Based on observations from Countries that have already completed their digital transition exercise, a number of parameters called success factors, have been identified. These factors are capable of guaranteeing success in the digital migration exercise. They are stated in [10] as:

1.  Cooperation and coordination across the value chain,

2.  Strong leadership,

3.  Effective communication strategy,

4.  Sufficient financial resources for the ASO organization.

1.4.1  Cooperation and Coordination across the Value Chain

The government and the broadcasting industry are to work in collaboration in coordinating the entire process. Based on that, the government is to determine the fundamental transition model (policy  making)  and  also  draw  the  analogue  switch-off  timetable.  The  regulators  have  to shoulder the responsibility of assigning radio frequency and as well, manage frequency licensing [11]. From another view point, the broadcasters need to educate the consumers on key issues of the programme by including publicity materials in their broadcast. The network operators are to upgrade all analogue equipment to allow for digital broadcasting [11]. In a similar development, the equipment manufacturers are required to produce enough quantities of receiving sets which conform with the standards adopted by the concerned region [10].

On the part of the consumers, a total and timely commitment is required to fast track the process in order to  avoid unnecessary publicity during or after the analogue switch-off. A  healthy cooperation and coordination across the value chain would affect the digital migration exercise positively.

1.4.2  Strong Leadership

Just as the force of inertia is reluctant to change, the digital transition process could suffer reluctance  if  there  is  no  strong  leadership.  The  transition  to  digitization  demands  strong leadership to set the machinery in motion. The government is to provide the required leadership by stating why, when and how the transition process should go in a clear roadmap [10]. It is also very important that a digital transition implementing team be set up to serve as a delivery van. This team would be responsible for overseeing the transition exercise and ensuring its success. For a successful transition to be achieved, the implementing team must be given a clear mandate

by the government [10]. This study considers leadership as the key success factor hence the government-led digital transition programme is concerned.

1.4.3  Effective Communications Strategy

The success of the transition programme is partly dependent on how well the consumers are informed about the process. The communication strategy needs to be effective enough and the consumers require comprehensive knowledge of the transition process. The basic pieces of information needed by the consumers include: why analogue switch-off exercise should be carried  out,  its  possible  advantages/disadvantages,  the  analogue  switch-off  date  and  the equipment required to receive digital services [10]. This information should be timely disseminated to consumers so as to adequately prepare them for the transition exercise [10].

1.4.4  Sufficient Financial Resources for the Digital Implementing Team

Countries differ population-wise and in terms of adopted broadcasting standards and for that reason, the cost of the digital transition programme would surely differ across countries. Despite these  differences,  each  country  should  make  available  the  minimum  fund  needed  for  the transition so that the Implementing team could carry out its duties. The duties may range from communication to consumers to marketing activities so as to help the vulnerable members of the society [10].  This  set  of people  could  be  reached  by  providing  incentives  to  them or  by subsidizing the cost of receiver equipment [10].

1.5  Monitoring and Evaluation Scheme

Monitoring has to do with the watching and the checking of something over a period of time, in order to see how it develops as well as the necessary changes that could be made [15]. A dedicated  digital  transition  implementing  team  is  absolutely  needed  for  monitoring  and evaluating the development of the transition exercise. Such a body is to concentrate its efforts on monitoring the progress of the activities of other stakeholders in the transition exercise to ensure a logical conclusion of the activities [12]. If any form of laxity is allowed in the monitoring and evaluation of the exercise, then the success of the exercise would certainly be truncated [10]. Continuous monitoring and remedial actions are very needful. Based on that, COMESA has put measures in place to monitor and evaluate the activities of its member states in the transition programme [12].

1.6  The Problem Statement

A close study of the analogue to digital broadcasting transition programme, from the declaration of the mandate to the current digital status of the various stakeholders, reveals some conscious/unconscious tendencies. Along the line, these tendencies tend to promote the business interest of certain groups of stakeholders but militate against a smooth transition by others. First, both the mandate and the transition process are market driven. They appear to be interested in exploiting the seemingly great  economic and commercial opportunities offered by the  new technology – digital broadcasting. Perhaps as a result of the interest in the economic gains, there are  few,  if  any,  literatures  to  show  any  input  from the  research community to  direct  the government-led digital transition process.

This has given rise to an obvious scarcity of theoretical models or analytical tools to guide the formulation and implementation of the digital transition. In a distinct term, there are no analytical models  for  the  study,  analysis,  monitoring  or  evaluation  of  any  progress  made  in  the government-led analogue to digital transition process. The analytical models are lacking both at the global level and at the level of individual stakeholders. Both the ITU transition guideline and the transition roadmaps of individual stakeholders could best be described as procedural, in both concept and practice. They are designed to achieve specific market objectives, but lacking in fundamental principles for general applications.

1.7  Aim of the Study

This study is  designed to  fill the apparent scientific  vacuum in the government-led digital transition process, as highlighted in the problem statement. Specifically, it proposes to develop a theoretical model that could be used as an analytical tool to assess the levels of progress (degree of success) at any stage of the transition programme. This progress is based on a set of success factors adjudged to guarantee a smooth digital transition process, such as definite actions taken (or not taken) by any constituted authorities or authorized individuals in the transition process. Precisely, the objectives of this thesis include:

i.      To obtain the derivatives of each of the success factors involved in the transition exercise. ii.      To identify the important phases of the transition programme in tandem with ITU and

COMESA roadmaps.

iii.      To identify other possible factor(s) that could influence the transition prograame if any.

1.8  Scope of the Study

The study is limited to developing a theoretical (mathematical) model that could serve as an analytical tool for monitoring and evaluating the progress made at  any stage of the digital transition programme. The  model is  based on  definite actions (or  inactions) taken by any constituted authorities in the transition process. Computer simulation of the model is conducted to calibrate and test the validity and potential of the model.

1.9   Thesis Outline

The rest of this study is organized as follows; Chapter (2) reviews the relevant literatures to the study while chapter three presents the methodology adopted in this work. Chapter four reports the simulation results, their analysis and discussions. The summary and conclusions of the study as well as suggestions for future studies are treated in the last chapter, which is chapter (5).

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