Malawi to import 1 million TV set-top boxes by end-2014

The Malawi government plans to have one million set-top boxes imported into the country before the country’s analogue systems switches off on December 31, 2014.

The ministry’s Digital Migration coordinator, Dennis Chirwa, said that the country has experienced technical problems with the transmitter at Mpingwe in Blantyre and that the market still does not have STBs available to allow TV set owners to buy and watch TV stations via the digital network.

According to Dataxis reports, the government is reportedly spending MWK 3.5 billion (USD 8.95 million) for the conversion of its terrestrial television network to digital transmission ahead of global migration deadline of June 17, 2015.