GIBA concerns baseless; gov’t hits back over StarTimes’ role in DTT

The government has hit back at the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), describing a litany of concerns the association raised in relation to the role of Chinese multinational media company, StarTimes in migrating Ghana from analogue to digital TV as baseless.

Deputy Communications Minister, George Andah said the premise on which GIBA raised all those objections is flawed.

The independent broadcasters in a lengthy press release asserted that the deal Ghana is entering into with StarTimes amounts to ceding the country’s broadcasting space to the Chinese giant.

“If StarTimes is allowed to control both Ghana’s only digital television infrastructure and the satellite space in the name of digital migration, Ghana would have virtually submitted its broadcast space to Chinese control and content,” GIBA said.

But speaking on the AM Show on the Joy News channel on Multi TV Tuesday, Mr Andah rubbished GIBA’s arguments; stating that the government has no intention to hand over control of Ghana’s Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) to StarTimes.

 George Andah

“There is no arrangement to handover the management of the national DTT infrastructure to StarTimes to manage. There’s a company, Central Digital Transmission Company, [they will manage it],” he said.

“…it will have Board of Directors which GIBA, the government of Ghana and other stakeholders including National Media Commission will be represented on,” he noted.

The Deputy Minister added that GIBA themselves made inputs into the DTT policy.

The GIBA statement comes after government’s announcement of a deal with StarTimes which will see about 300 villages connected to satellite TV free of charge.

Read: 300 villages to benefit from China-aided satellite TV project

The project is aimed at helping “our citizens to access TV information on national and international events and programmes that would educate and inform them; hence increasing their awareness and knowledge to improve their welfare,” the ministry said.

But GIBA believes “the Agenda of StarTimes is not only aimed at profit or the indoctrination of Chinese culture (names, language, food, etc.) and programmes, but a larger mandate to take over the control of the broadcast space in strategic African countries including Ghana, which is crucial for the China game…”.

But Mr Andah clarified that the deal for StarTimes is different from the migration from analogue to digital.

“The role of StarTimes in that is just enhancement and not to control or manage the project,” Mr Andah stated.

 

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