• Fund disbursement on hold till debt restructuring is finalised
• JICA approves resumption of projects except DTTB

The process of adopting digital transmission technology for terrestrial TV broadcasting in Sri Lanka to replace the current analogue technology that is gradually becoming outmoded has come to a standstill due to several inherent issues in the project that are beyond the control of the Ministry of Finance, The Sunday Morning learns. 

It is reliably learnt that there are several issues being discussed between Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – the funding agency – and the Ministry of Mass Media.

A senior official attached to the Ministry of Finance told The Sunday Morning that all projects funded by JICA had been put on hold due to the economic crisis faced by the country. However, JICA has now given the green light to resume all JICA-funded projects, excluding the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) project.

Digitalisation on hold

Following several years of discussions, the DTTB was launched in 2021 by then Mass Media Minister Dullas Alahapperuma. However, since then, there have been no new developments by the targeted agencies.

The project was supposed to be beneficial to Sri Lankan TV broadcasters, viewers, and the general public as a whole, since at present each channel has to use individual frequency bands under the local broadcasting system. 

However, with the new digitalisation programme, it was aimed to increase the capacity of the frequency spectrum in Sri Lanka by eight times or more. As a result, in addition to the existing active television channels in the country, 200 additional TV channels were planned to be added to the broadcast list with a number of new programmes.

A single kilowatt (1 kW) transmitter and a 65 ft. transmission tower was used to broadcast the Independent Television Network (ITN) channel within a 15 mile radius of the city of Colombo. 

The global digitalisation process has three components – the European digital television standard (DVB-T), Japanese standard (ISDB-T), and the American standard (ATSC) – with the Japanese standard method being used by Sri Lanka. 

The project was scheduled to be completed by 2025 and the country’s first digital terrestrial television broadcast was expected to commence this year. However, to date, the country is two years behind in terms of the project timeline and there is no scheduled date for the commencement of the digital terrestrial television broadcast, as learnt by The Sunday Morning.

Decades of planning

TV broadcasting started in Sri Lanka with a single channel – ITN – in 1979. On 5 June 1979, ITN was the subject of a Government takeover and was later brought under the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act No.6 of 1982, along with the newly-created Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC). 

Significant changes occurred in 1992 as the Government permitted the establishment of private television networks. Subsequently, the Maharaja Television Network was launched in collaboration with Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel). Since then, many new television networks have come into existence in Sri Lanka, in addition to a number of satellite networks and pay-per-view television networks. The national telecommunications provider, Sri Lanka Telecom, also launched an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service in 2008. 

By 2015, the network had expanded to 23 terrestrial channels owned by 16 broadcasting companies, of which two were State-owned and the rest were privately-owned. In addition, there are cable TV services, direct-to-home satellite services, and an Internet based (IPTV) service. Over 80% of households (around four million) have TV receivers. Television is the most popular mass communication medium and the number one source of public information. 

In 2010, the Ministry of Mass Media and Information appointed a subcommittee “to propose a suitable policy framework for the digitalisation of terrestrial television broadcasting in Sri Lanka”. The expert group, which included several engineers and TV industry veteran Dr. D.B. Nihalsinghe, finalised its report in late 2010. 

In the subcommittee’s draft report, it recommended that the Ministry of Mass Media and Information stop issuing new media licences for analogue television broadcasting. 

The ‘Roadmap for the Transition from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting in Sri Lanka’ report issued in February 2012 noted that the subcommittee had recommended that the expansion or new assignments for current analogue transmission infrastructure in the Western Province be terminated with immediate effect. 

In addition to terrestrial analogue TV broadcasting services, the current commercial broadcasting services market includes nine cable TV licensees, five DTH TV licences, and one IPTV licence and mobile TV licence. The current operating cable TV distribution network operator is Lanka Broadband Network (Pvt) Ltd. (LBN) and City Cable Links (Pvt) Ltd. LBN provides connection fees and monthly subscriptions rates in four packages, according to the report. 

“For example, the basic package monthly rental is Rs. 699 with an additional telecommunication levy of 20%. It provides 36 channels, VHS quality pictures, and a mono sound system on selected channels. For the digital premium package, the monthly rental is Rs. 1,599 with an additional telecommunication levy of 20%. It provides more than 100 channels, DVD quality pictures, and stereo sound. The number of cable TV subscribers is estimated to be 50,000,” the report states.

The main regulatory bodies are the Ministry of Mass Media and Information and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), the report notes.

As highlighted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the major commercial advantage of digital broadcasting is the ability to offer a greater range and diversity of services and applications. 

This is attractive from the broadcaster’s perspective since this can be done without the need for additional spectrum (after transition period) and with lower transmitter power. New commercial opportunities will exist. The more consistent, if not better, subjective quality can be a benefit to both providers and users, as can ancillary services like automatic re-tuning on a car radio, for example.

Risk of delay

ITN General Manager W.P.A.M. Wijesinghe told The Sunday Morning that the network was fully prepared for the digitalisation project and that its operations up to the transmission level had already been digitalised.

“We have already digitalised up to our transmission point. All our studios, editing rooms, and other facilities are now digitalised, but beyond the transmission point, the system is still analogue. All individual broadcasters have analogue networks of their own and the Government is proposing to go for a digital network run by a digital network operator. When that’s done, we will be able to plug into that network,” he said.

“The issue is the analogue transmission system, which is very old and no one wants to repair it or replace the equipment. Some equipment is 20 years old. We waited until a digital system came. The Government proposed a Japanese system and broadcasting engineers in this country wanted a European system. There were issues, but now I think things have settled into the Japanese system. There were funding problems as well,” Wijesinghe added. 

Uncertainty persists 

When contacted by The Sunday Morning, Ministry of Mass Media Secretary Anusha Palpita said the DTTB project had come to a standstill due to the common suspensions prevailing with regard to foreign-funded projects, such as those funded by the JICA. 

However, Treasury Deputy Secretary R.M.P. Rathnayake said the JICA had already given the green light to go ahead with the projects that had been funded by it, excluding the digitalisation project.

He further explained that the funds would be disbursed once the ongoing debt restructuring process was completed.