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Herald Reporter
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting Services has hailed the progress that has been made in digitising the country’s broadcasting sector. The committee, chaired by Zanu-PF MP for Umzingwane Cde William Dhewa, also welcomed the subsiding of Set Top Boxes (STB) prices from $43 to $25 by the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Ser- vices.

It, however, said the price required further downward review to make it affordable to the majority of Zimbabweans.

“The committee noted that there were places ready to receive digital transmitter sites, such as Mutare, Kamativi and Harare, among others. These should be prioritised in terms of distribution of STBs,” said the committee.

“The committee welcomes the training of engineers as a positive development. During tours, the graduates exhibited full understanding and appreciation of their duties and responsibilities.”

The committee recommended that the Zimbabwe Digital Broadcasting Migration Project Steering Committee conduct awareness campaigns to educate citizens on the project and the equipment that they needed to buy.

The portfolio committee also recommended that Transmedia should ensure that STBs were manufactured locally together with television sets that were digitally compatible.