In the next three weeks Kenya’s leading media stations; Nation Media Group, The Standard and Royal Media services will be launching 150000 advanced set top boxes.; after which they will import a million more devices by the end of March this year.
Wilfred Kiboro, the NMG chairman, said the gadgets will be sold at a one-off price that will not exceed Ksh. 2,500.
The only thing that may be a set back is the time the Communications Authority of Kenya(CAK) has given them to migrate and also the fact the 21 frequencies they have been offered are not enough to effectively provide digital broadcast.
They need at least 54 to fully cover the entire country
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), through its affiliate Signet Kenya Ltd, has been allocated 56 frequencies, while a Chinese firm, Pan African Network Group Kenya Ltd has been allocated 120 frequencies nationally.
Early this month, Supreme Court judges Willy Mutunga (Chief Justice) and Mohammed Ibrahim, granted orders stopping CA from switching off the analogue frequencies of the three media houses until further notice.