Multichoice in favour of ConCourt ruling on subsidised set-top boxes' non-encryption policy

Multichoice has welcomed the constitutional court's ruling on the encryption capabilities of the five million state-subsidised set-top boxes. In a move that hopefully paves the way for the long-awaited migration to digital terrestrial television, the court's ruling confirms that the minister of communications' policy on the exclusion of encryption capabilities from the set-top boxes is valid.

The non-encryption policy ensures that underprivileged homes benefit from and are included in the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television. The policy also saves millions of rands as the costs associated with encryption are avoided.