Journalists visit CRTV digital terrestrial television Production

Journalists from national newspapers conducted a tour of the construction site for technical equipment of CRTV, already in place for digital terrestrial television in Yaoundé

At the invitation of the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, journalists from the national press, including Director of Communication Engineering at MINCOM, Didier Kaba Aliguen, were present to conduct a tour on the technical equipment of CRTV in both sites, Mballa II and Mbankol, on Saturday

According to official sources, the many facilities are already in place for the rehabilitation of the CRTV which includes the changeover to digital terrestrial television (DTT) which was effective in Cameroon since July 10, 2015.

The General Manager of CRTV Amadou Vamoulké and his collaborators first welcomed the delegation at the Mballa II site. According to source , the site called 'network head' is the device that brings together television channels. It is through this mechanism that one gathers, produces a program from those publishers, to make a bouquet.

This device is operating with twelve programs in its current capacity. However, this capacity will be increased soon, in 45 days, forty programs to a minimum.

Once the programs are produced, they are routed to the second site visited, to Mbankolo. This site is dedicated to the broadcast. The current transmitter, double, has a capacity of 2,5kW.

It has a capacity coverage of over a radius of 60km. Thus, a viewer who has proper equipment can receive digital television in Mbalmayo, or Mfou Obala for example. Another issuer 5kw, being implemented, will provide coverage of approximately 100km. The pylons will be installed where the transmitters are being rehabilitated. The conclusion reached by visitors is that the project is on track.

The visit was attended by technicians from the Chinese company Startimes, deal awarded on technical rehabilitation of CRTV against two other competitors, deal amounting to over FCFA 100 billion according to reliable sources. Startimes decided early, as the market has not yet been signed, putting at the disposal of CRTV visited facilities that are intended for the rehabilitation of the distribution centers of Douala and Yaoundé.

By marking his appreciation for the positive response to his invitation of journalists, the Minister of Communications has also announced that it is to express his gratitude and appreciation to President Paul Biya as the general manager of Startimes decided to invest own funds to purchase equipment and to conduct early performance of the contract of the two broadcast centers.

He said, since switching was done "in perfect agreement between CRTV that initially acquired two experimental transmitters and Startimes which pledged to support Cameroon".

According to source, the funding for the rehabilitation of the CRTV is not yet in place for now. It will be in the coming days,yet CRTV plays a major role in this process under the law of 20 April 2015 regulating audio-visual activity in Cameroon, the public operator of radio and television broadcaster who is qualified to be, multiplexer, aggregator, content aggregator audiovisual...

According to information gathered, the process is in motion, starting with the establishment of infrastructure. The rest, namely the content, is also set up in accordance with the specifications and rules of art.

According to a government source, the meaning of the instructions received by the communication minister in charge of broadcasting. Hence the conclusion of MINCOM: This process is conducted in accordance with the law and with the instructions of his superiors.