In 2015, when Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, he announced that China would help implement satellite TV programs for 10,000 African villages.
“The project, known as “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages”, has been undertaken by Star-Times, the leading digital TV operator in Africa.
About 10,112 rural villages in 23 African countries are benefiting from the project. Each village is aided with two StarTimes Projector TVs, one 32-inch Digital TV set, and 20 DTH decoders with satellite dishes.
Projector TVs and Digital TV sets are equipped with solar power systems and DTH access units. The Projector TVs and Digital TVs are available in the public areas of the village such as school or youth development committees, which allows all villagers to enjoy the wonderful digital TV programs of 20 channels including the national station, local channels, and international channels.
The “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages” project has established a wide coverage of programme signals, a secure and reliable infrastructure network, and a comprehensive operating system, enabling people in remote areas to have stable and long-term access to the world’s information, thus bridging the digital divide between urban and rural areas in Africa.
