Maravi

Zamtel ready to help ZNBC digitalise

Zamtel ready to help ZNBC digitalise
By Mutale Kapekele
Mon 02 May 2011, 03:59 CAT

ZAMTEL says it is ready to assist the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation digitalise nationwide using its optic fibre network. Last Thursday, ZNBC director general Eddie Mupeso, said the national broadcaster had already started ordering digital-capable equipment that would ensure the signal was completely digital by 2013.

Mupeso, who was touring leased transmission facilities at Zamtel, said his institution would also take advantage of the latter’s optic fibre which has already terminated within the mass media complex to improve the quality of the broadcast signal countrywide.

“We are going to make use of the fibre because we will be building provincial television studios and we hope to use fibre to make sure these facilities are well connected and serviced so that we can send good picture quality to our audience,”

Mupeso said. “In Livingstone for instance, we are sending picture to Lusaka via internet, which is very cumbersome. But once we complete digitalising our facilities, transmission will become child’s play.”

Mupeso also disclosed that ZNBC would receive three mobile studios in the next two weeks from the United Kingdom, which he hoped would ease transmission challenges for events across the country.

At the same event, Zamtel chief commercial officer Amon Jere pledged his company’s continued collaboration with ZNBC by providing the latest technology that would improve the quality of the broadcaster’s signal.

Jere said Zamtel had invested a lot of resources in installing digital transmission enabled equipment and was ready to switch on the national broadcaster’s signal as soon as it was technically ready.

“The cost of running the analogue transmission links is very huge and in most cases, the technology is old and spare parts are hard to find. So when ZNBC is transmitting, sometimes we literally have to ‘babysit’ the equipment to ensure there is no signal failure,” he said.

Zamtel provides transmission leased facilities to the national broadcaster for its signal countrywide.

Labels: AMON JERE, OPTIC FIBRE, ZAMTEL, ZNBC

posted by MrK @ 11:48 AM