Pace has announced that it has been selected by MultiChoice Africa to support MultiChoice’s launch of its GOtv offering, which is bringing digital TV services to terrestrial subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The GOtv service is being delivered to customers via Pace’s next generation set-top boxes, capable of receiving DVB-T2 standard transmissions. These new set-top boxes are the first to deliver the latest digital terrestrial television into Sub-Saharan African homes, increasing consumers’ service reliability and content choice.

Viewers will be able to receive more channels via the DVB-T2 set-top box, which will provide a reliable and better quality television service, while ensuring a better service reception level. It will further enable new services, including Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs) and multi-language features.

The launch of the DVB-T2 set-top box supports the migration of analogue to digital terrestrial transmission and will enable the attainment of analogue switch off scheduled for 2015. The DVB-T2 infrastructure will also provide a platform for operators to further develop their services in the future. GOtv’s launch in Lusaka, Zambia in June and Entebbe/Kampala, Uganda in August was supported by the new generation of Pace set-top boxes. Further market launches are planned by MultiChoice over the coming months.

Shane McCarthy, general manager at Pace commented: “As a pioneer in DVB-T2 technology and a long-time partner to MultiChoice, Pace has both the technical knowledge and the local market understanding to deliver the most effective next generation service to MultiChoice and its subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa. This launch is a critical step in bringing digital TV services into thousands more homes in this region and we’re delighted to help drive this change.”

 

The president of MultiChoice Africa, Collins Khumalo, added: “We’re really excited about the launch of DVB-T2 transmissions and the opportunity it gives us to deliver a wide selection of channels to television viewers through a reliable broadcasting system. Pace’s history in DVB-T2 technology makes it the perfect partner to deliver this.”