SABC explains its expanded definition for TVs in South Africa
In a public broadcasting colloquium document published on Thursday (6 September), SABC board chairperson Bongumusa Makhithini, noted that while TV licence fees still remain the second largest source of revenue for the SABC, the broadcaster needed to rebase the fee and strengthen the collection of this revenue.
This would include greater compliance at the point of sale and with other transactions relating to television sets, and possibly extending reporting obligations to include insurance companies and Pay TV operators.
One of the other major considerations that the SABC was looking at was a revised definition of television sets.
“The SABC has submitted that a new, broadened definition of Television Set should be included in the Broadcasting Act,” Makhithini said.
This raised concerns over how broadly this definition would be extended – with the SABC previously raising the possibility of requiring a TV licence for smartphones and PCs.
However, Neo Momodu group executive of Corporate Affairs at the SABC, has confirmed this will not be the case.
“The SABC has proposed that a statutory definition of television set needs to be agreed that broadens the net to include all receiving devices and apparatus that are capable of receiving television broadcasts over the broadcasting radio frequency spectrum,” she told BusinessTech.
“But it should not be so broad as to include all mobile phones and computing devices.
“A broadened definition will require all those entities with reporting obligations to enforce the regulations in relation to a defined type of devices or apparatus,” she added.
Read: The SABC wants to broaden the definition of a ‘TV’ – and increase licence fees
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