KAMPALA: It appears Uganda is not going to meet a December 2012 deadline set by the East African Community to transfer all televisions in the country from analogue to digital. Last month, the country's communications regulator said that the state-run broadcaster Uganda Broadcasting Corporation is expected to be unable to deliver the new technology by the end of next year. This week, the UBC confirmed that they are currently having difficulties with the move and are not convinced they will achieve the deadline. The delay appears to have left many analysts and potential investors questioning the company, which turned down European companies' offers to assist in the transfer before UBC went with China's Huawei Technologies. “We had offered a great deal for the company in this process and we would have been able to deliver without any worries, but they went a different route,” said an official from one of the European companies, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. It also comes as the Ugandan government in July ended a telecom deal awarded to the Chinese company after the government was concerned about the how the deal was reached. Huawei, in August 2010, signed a $74 million deal with UBC to provide the company with digital migration equipment, but authorities froze the deal and fired UBC's management while an investigation takes place. BM
