Digitisation of Television: Is the Government aware of the Nature of the Beast?

Late last year a Japanese delegation announced the resumption of the previously stalled digital television project in Sri Lanka, following a meeting with the newly elected President.

- BY SHANTHILAL NANAYAKKARA

In April 2025, an agreement was signed with the Sri Lanka Government to appoint a Japanese Consultant for the project but I am not aware that the Government has appointed a steering committee to run the project from the Sri Lankan side.

The commencement of the digitisation project is now imminent.

In this context, there is a lack of pre-planning of this potentially politically sensitive venture, probably due to the limited understanding of what the project entails and what industry outcomes are expected by stakeholders. It is also disturbing to note the unavailability to stakeholders of a publicised strategic government policy framework developed in conjunction with the Japanese. Such a framework is particularly crucial at a time when Sri Lanka is just emerging from an economic catastrophe as this project is likely to consume a significant amount of capital resources from Government and Commercial sectors.

The writer was a pioneering member of the Sri Lankan team that worked alongside the Japanese team of consultants in implementing the National Television project (Rupavahini). The team of Sri Lankan engineers were able to negotiate successfully with the Japanese team to ensure that the project met requirements specific to Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that a Sri Lankan team understands in depth the finer details of the Japanese plan, including their impact on resources and all stakeholders.

In examining the Japanese plans made available to the public to date, it is not clear whether the Japanese have closely analysed the potential impact, specifically on the financial viabilities of the broadcast industry at large and in particular the ripple effect on the existing commercial television broadcasting channels.