Botswana, South Africa to work on digital migration

South Africa and Botswana have agreed to cooperate in mitigating cross border radio frequency spectrum interference ahead of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) deadline, SANews (Tshwane) reported. The cooperation follows bilateral engagements between Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and her Botswana counterpart, Transport and Communications Minister Tshenolo Mabeo in Gaborone. Muthambi said the primary objective was to identify issues of mutual interest on cross border interference and other related matters in order to establish an amicable solution for addressing challenges as and when they arise. He said their discussions also centred on key elements that require bilateral engagements between the two countries, namely, sharing of migration plans, processes to handle frequency spectrum interference, release of digital dividends timing and a Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement. During the ITU conference held in Geneva in 2006, an agreement was reached to switch from analogue to digital transmission by June.