ABT is an electronics company specializing in the manufacture of home entertainment devices, receivers and decoders of various types and technologies. A black-owned and controlled company, ABT is managed by a team of young, highly qualified individuals who are focused at driving the company towards benefitting profitably from the digital switch-over in South Africa, the SADC region and the continent at large.

2. An ABT Presentation
to
The Portfolio Committee on Communications
“ABT’s State of Readiness for the DTT Migration”
Committee Room V454, Old Assembly Building, Parliament
Wednesday, 21 September 2011

3. Discussion Points
1. Who is ABT?
2. B-BBEE Roadmap
3. From RRC 06 to 2010
4. 2011 Highlights
5. Are we ready yet?
6. ABT Plans, preparations and achievements
7. Conclusion and Recommendations

4. Who is ABT?
Our Profile
The company was started off doing importing electronic devices in 2002. Taking
advantage of RRC06 the business model was adapted in 2006. Management and
ownership changes were effected to strengthen our BEE credentials and refocus
our business for the African market. Today, ABT is a fully-fledged set-top-box
design, sales, manufacturing and distributions company with local presence in
Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

5. Who is ABT?
• Strive For Perfection
Our Daily Ethos
• Be Innovative
• Do Something Unique
• Be Accountable
• Tough Times call for Tough Minds
• Be Positive

6. The ABT Core Values
We mean digital
1. Quality
2. Passion
3. Integrity
4. Respect
5. Collaboration

7. Our Stakeholders
Internal • Our employees
• Our Shareholders
Stakeholders • The board and management
&
• Government : DOC, the DTI, DS&T, etc.
External
• Our (end-user) customers
Stakeholders • The suppliers: technology vendors
• The operators : SABC, etv, Mnet, etc.

8. ABT: A Corporate Citizen
Bona fide African Electronics
An Instrument A Proud product
Manufacture
of of
Perfection BEE Laws
A Protagonist
for all-round
African
value A Proponent
A Pool of
Engineering beacon of
of
Excellence
A Promoter of transformation Hope
Women
Pioneering A Protector of Youth
Empowerment Pals Employment
Human Rights

9. Who is ABT?
A good corporate citizen is
an instrument of perfection.
Try Us!

10. B-BBEE Roadmap
1998 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Mar – Dec: Cut off for
Feb:
BEE Jan : Collation and public
Codes of Verification
Commission BEE Act comments on comment
Good Practice Manual
established BEE gazetted Phase 1. on Phase 2.
gazetted
Commission's
DTI released
report Drafting of Collation of
BEE
released Phase 2 began. Comments on
Strategy
phase 2.
Document April :
2nd draft
Drafting
discussed with Simplified
Of Phase 1
key private Codes
of Codes
Stakeholders. prepared for
began
Cabinet.
Cabinet
Dec: approved
Release Phase 1 in
Phase 1 – Ownership and Management. principle. Drafting COGP - 3 main stakeholders –
of first draft
of Phase 1 • Government
Phase 2 – Employment Equity, Skills Development, Release of
for public • Business
Preferential Procurement, Enterprise Development,
comment 1st draft of • and Legal.
Socio-Economic Development.
Phase 1.
Release of
draft
Of Phase 2.

11. B-BBEE: What does it mean?
Definition of B-BBEE by Commission
A strategy aimed at substantially increasing black participation at all levels of the economy.
Objectives of the Strategy
Redress the imbalances of the past by transferring more ownership, management and control of South
Africa’s financial and economic resources to the majority of its citizens.
Ensure broader and meaningful participation in the economy by black people.

12. From RRC 06 to 2010
2002 : The DBAB recommended the DVB family of standards
Jun 2006 : South Africa signs the ITU’s RRC06
Nov 2006 : DMWG recommends DVB-T to Min of Communications
2006 : ABT founded as importers of STBs (under different ownership)
2006 : ABT remodeled to take advantage of RRC06 benefits
Sept 2008 : DBM Policy published by Minister
Oct 2008 : ABT Partnered with a Korean technology company
Nov 2008 : DTT trials started
2008 : ABT Participated at all industry-DOC Policy draft meetings
2008 : Cabinet approved the DMB Policy

13. ABT in 2011 : Highlights
2011 : Firmed up ABT’s grip on (some) African markets
2011 : Developed non-DTT (STB) business in SA and parts of Africa
2011 : ABT offloads Korean partners; rearranged a suite of technologies
June 2011 : “ABT DTT Migration Educational Campaign” launched
2011 : Lined up the licensed technologies and IP ownership strategy
2011 : Ensured a successful conclusion of the TC74
2011 : Reworked the ABT business plan
2011 : Revamped ABT shareholder structure
2011 : Reviewed all our supplier contracts
2011 : Secured two prospective funders

14. Are Manufacturers ready for DTT?
Despite the delays and changes since 2009…
Feb 2010 : Digital Migration Regulations were published
Mar 2010 : DTI organized the manufacturers into formal a structure
Apr 2010 : DOC held a 2-day DTT standards symposium
Aug 2010 : ABT set-top-box passed conformance tests with SABC and eTV
17 Jul 2010 : Presented to the Portfolio Committee meeting in Randburg
2010 : ABT participated fully at TC74 to date
2010 : DVB-T versus ISDBT farce wasted 9 months or 3 FYQs
2010 : Local delays… Africa here we come!

15. Yes, ABT is ready
Making hay while the sun shines
• All the key contracts are in place
• World-class production facility in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng
• Skilled personnel: design and electronics engineers
• Retail and Distribution plans
• Appropriate funding arrangements in place
• Installations and after service plan completed
• Public Education and Awareness Campaign running

16. ABT Product Roadmap
MULTIMEDIA
Integrated HOME
IP STB GATEWAY
IP STB
Integrated STB
HD MPEG4 H.264 HD PVR
PVR Multi-Room
Open TV
MHEG 5 Bluetooth ACAP/OCAP
FTA/CI/CAS STB
FTA/CI CAS
Pocket
1-SEG
Mobile TV P-VOD Multimedia
DMB DAB/MP3 Center
2009/10 2011/12 2012/13

17. Cutting-edge Technologies
ABT chooses STMicroelectronics
as a chip vendor
and a technical partner

18. ABT Procures ST
It’s about technology…
• ST Microelectronics is the market leader for STB solution in the EMEA region
• ST has publically announced that it will support emerging markets
• ST has the highest integration using the very latest technology
• The only chip vendor with a single chip T2 solution today
• ST provides good service from their regional and divisional departments
• A 10 Billion dollar international company
…and the best support

19. STB design Process
ABT is committed to localize the design of our T2 DTT box offering.
This requires various steps in collaboration with the chip vendor – ST and software partners
1. Sign agreements between ABT & ST including a development license agreement (STAPI License)
2. Get technical information and advise on the latest technology applicable to the DVB-T2 market
3. Purchase a DVB-T2 development platform + programming equipment from ST (+/- US$100 00.00)
4. Procure engineers/skills locally to start working on the localized T2 PCB
5. Produce, populate and test prototype PCB’s
6. Start testing/debugging with software (middleware) company
7. Re-spin the PCB if any peripherals (USB, memory, video, audio etc.) do not work
8. Continue testing and debugging the hardware with the software/middleware partner

20. STB Trial Procedure
Once a working proto-type exists, testing the box starts on the T2 trial network.
Testing includes the following steps:
1. Monitoring the box for reliable operation 24 hours per day
2. Ensuring that the box conforms to the local specification
3. Once the UI specs are known to ABT, we test the functionality and compliance of the UI
4. Many collaboration sessions take place between hardware and software engineers
5. Various versions of software are downloaded, flashed into the STB and tested 3 to 6 months

21. In Preparation for Production
• It must be noted that the procedures and project phases use an “open” chip. That means
the proto-type chips get supplied by ST without any security and with all codec's enables
for testing purposes. ST will supply a maximum of 20 sample chips to ABT.
• ABT then moves into the pre-production phase and complies with the following steps:
1. Reply to ST’s Silicon Request Form (SIRF – see PDF example attached).
2. This request form is necessary as the chips supplied to ABT will be specific to ABT and
cannot be sold to any other company
3. ST uses the SIRF form to confirm that ABT’s local manufacturers are indeed licensed to
use the features (Adobe, Dolby, MHEG5 etc.) requested by ABT. The license verification
procedure is a legal procedure between ST and the various license supplier companies.

22. In Preparation for Production Cont.
At this stage it is ABSOLUTELY VITAL that ABT are in the possession of the following:
• Complete specification for the South African DVB-T2 box.
• Complete specification of any security (STB control, Conditional Access etc.) scheme that the
DOC requires.
If ABT does not have this information available at this time, the chip set manufacturer (ST) cannot
commence to produce chips.
• Please be advised the standard lead time for DVB-T2 chip are currently 20 weeks.

23. Production Phase
Once the National trial commences ABT will supply the required quota of our
boxes to this process for testing and evaluation
At this stage it is highly unlikely that any hardware changes are needed. However,
ABT will collaborate within the trial framework and effect any changes needed –
hardware or software to ensure complete compliance.

24. ST’s EMEA Market
EMEA market
share in
excess of
50%!

25. Adverse Impact of Indecisions
Three years ago this month, a spanner was thrown in the Policy
works of the Migration
• Confusion at home
• Contradicted the Cabinet decision
• Rendered our integrity questionable
• Eroded established leadership in our quest for African markets
• Cost jobs
• Put companies out of business
• Allowed Chinese inroads in what should have been South Africa’s “slice of the pie”

26. The STB Manufacturing Strategy
STB Manufacturing Strategy stipulates that:
• The BDM Policy seeks to ensure that STBs are manufactured locally
• There’s a need to revive SA’s electronics industry, leading to:
1. Job creation
2. Skills generation
3. Electronics sector transformation
• Capacitate local manufacturers to
1. export to African countries
2. introduce new players
3. reinforce the value chain (installations, logistics, retail, call-centre, etc.)

27. The Case of Elprom
• Elprom Electronic Product Manufacturers was founded in 1991 in Stellenbosch
• Employed over 350 people
• Donated to Boland College's Strand Campus electronic components to the value
of over R25 000 on Friday, 13 August 2010.
• In August 2011 it was liquidated; 350 jobs lost

28. A trend to be reversed
• The electronics manufacturing bled since mid-1990s
• Many factories closed over the last 10 years, including:
– Becker Radio
– Tedelex (from 1969 to June 2010)
– Eltron
– Elprom
• Since 2000, employment has more than halved
• Hence, DTI, Industrial Policy Plan specifically focus on uplifting the
electronics manufacturing sector.

29. Losing more than jobs
• More than 350 Jobs wiped out
• Government revenues lost (VAT, rates & taxes, etc.)
• Socio-economic evils creep in (crime, ill-health, etc.)
• Global competitiveness impeded

30. The threats and the threatened
The STB Control System!
Scheme for Ownership Support
The very noble objectives of the STB Strategy
Coordination of functions, processes, agencies, etc

31. Conclusion and Recommendations
Harmonize efforts, coordinate tasks to save time and money
Ensure continuity of programmes to stimulate certainty
Incorporate lessons from jurisdictions that have migrated ahead of us
Communicate, communicate and communicate again to instill trust

32. Are We Ready?
ABT is ready
Our competitors are ready
The electronics industry at large is ready

33. Inkomu
Enkosi

34. Are We Ready?
Yes, we Yes, we
are! are!
Yes, we Yes, we
are! are!
Yes, we
Prepared and Presented by: are!
Muzi Makhaye