Starting this month, at least 2,000 households in 400 villages in Uganda will have free access to satellite TV under a project to improve information access through technology.
Under the project, each village will receive three sets of satellite TV equipment for communal use, while 20 households will receive satellite TV kits.
Each of the selected villages will receive a 32-inch digital TV (with solar energy, satellite receiver and accessories) and two projection TV systems with solar systems and accessories.
The supply of the kits is part of the ‘Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages’ project, a China-backed Africa co-operation programme to expand access to quality TV on the continent.
It is the brainchild of Chinese President Xi Jinping and a promise he made to African leaders at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation on December 4, 2015.
Uganda was one of the first African countries to benefit from the first phase of the project, with a total of 500 villages in receiving free satellite TV kits since its launch in 2018.
During the launch of the second phase of the project in Kampala Saturday, Paul Odoi, the principal engineer at the ICT ministry, said the initiative was a boost to information access.
Jiang Liqing, the commercial counsellor at the Chinese Embassy, said the project will support digital learning at a time when academic institutions remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Song Wei, the project director at StarTimes Uganda, a Chinese firm that is rolling out the project, said installations in all the 400 villages in Uganda would be complete by the end of the year.
A team of Ugandan technicians are undergoing training to install the satellite equipment in the villages.
Two people from each village will be trained to learn how to install and maintain the kits.
