Very few people in Yaounde can boast of a terrestrial antenna and decoder, months after the much announced switchover from analogue to digital.  

It’s Tuesday, January 12, 2015. At about midday in Yaounde, Cameroon Tribune (CT) reporters make a tour of some electronic appliances shops around the Yaounde Central Market in a bid to verify the availability of digital terrestrial receivers and terrestrial antennae. After several stops, CT reporters could not find what they were looking for. However, in one of the electronic shops, the salesperson advised that the items will be difficult to find because they were not common item on sale. “However we have digital terrestrial television (DTT) on sale. With such a TV, you do not need a digital terrestrial receiver and terrestrial antenna because it is a second generation TV”, he said.

Indeed, getting a digital terrestrial receiver and a terrestrial antenna is not common in Yaounde. After several attempts, a terrestrial antenna was seen in an electronic shop down town Yaounde. The shop dealer said he was encouraged to retail terrestrial antenna by his supplier, Henri Desire Kamdem, an international dealer in electronics. The shop dealer said because he was selling flat screen TV sets that have digital converters, he was encouraged to sell terrestrial antennae because those who buy such TV sets will need just a terrestrial antenna to have digital images for all free channels.

From all indications, Henri Desire Kamdem, so far is the lone producer and supplier of digital terrestrial receiver and terrestrial antenna in town. Most electronic shop owners and even inhabitants in Yaounde are not aware of the existence of DT receivers. Henri Desire Kamdem said after government launched the operation at the Mbankolo Transmission Centre terrestrial transmission aimed at transmitting digital images, he engaged with his foreign partners for the production of digital terrestrial receiver and terrestrial antennae.

While on sale, Mr Kamdem says the market for DT tools has a slow turnover as many people do not know about them nor do they have the required TV to use them. While he is hoping for an improved market strategy, Henri Desire Kamdem says he is counting on the government for better diffusion on DTT and all that is necessary to make it effective in Cameroon.

It should be recalled that Digital Terrestrial Television DTTV, sometimes also abbreviated (DTT) is digital television broadcast entirely over earthbound circuits. A satellite is not used for any part of the link between the broadcaster and the end user. It is a technological evolution of broadcast television, advancement over analogue television.