KIGALI - IN a bid to foster a smooth transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting, Rwanda Development Bank (BRD) is set to import over 5,000 digital TVs from Malaysia and distribute them to selected dealers who will then sale them to the public.

The initiative is in line with resolutions by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations that regulates information and communication technology issues. The ITU set 2015 as the deadline for all countries to adopt digital broadcasting.

Jack Kayonga, the Managing Director of BRD, said that the initiative will enable Rwandans have the capacity to access the expensive digital equipment before the rule goes into operation.

"BRD will partner with business prefects in various districts to make the TVs available to Rwandans who will have the opportunity to purchase in 12 instalments,” Kayonga said Friday.

"We don’t have enough digital TVs in our country and yet the shift to digital TV is inevitable. As a knowledge based economy we must keep ahead by being ready to change for the better,” he said.

Kayonga urged business leaders to take up the opportunity and kill two birds with one stone;, help to distribute the TVs all over the country as well as make a profit.

The first batch of the TV sets, according to Kayonga, will arrive this month.

In 2008, The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) started communicating to all broadcasters about the transition and is set to start a public awareness campaign soon.

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