SECTOR 2 Broadcasting According to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority - TCRA, there are 26 and 84 licensed television and radio stations respectively which are commercial and non commercial. Their coverage varies from the national, regional and district level. Mention was made that most television stations do not cater for deaf people by providing on-screen sign-language interpreters, making television largely inaccessible to people with hearing impairments. In 2010, digital terrestrial television (DTT) was launched, providing citizens with more than 100 channels offered by the three licensed multiplex operators/signal distributors: Agape Associate Limited, Basic Transmission Limited and Star Media Limited. There are higher costs associated with DTT, making it less affordable than before, as citizens need to buy their own set-top boxes as these are not yet subsidised by the government (although this is reportedly in the pipeline), and there are fees to pay to the multiplex operators, ranging from TSh5,000 to TSh7,000 per month. The price for set-top boxes can range from TSh100,000 to TSh250,000. According to TCRA figures, there were 700,000 decoders as at December 2014. “The digital migration is a positive development for accessibility, and it has opened up the bandwidth, but there are extra costs involved so it is not that affordable to the majority, only really for the middle class. Rural people, especially, will suffer.” Prior to the introduction of DTT, most rural areas without analogue television reception were using satellite decoders to receive the analogue signals of local television stations. Currently, there is still a dual broadcast of digital and analogue signals, although analogue television signals reach only part of the country. Panellists estimated that in rural areas, there is one television for every eight households. The owners of televisions will commonly charge neighbours to watch programmes on his or her TV set. Radio remains the most accessible and affordable media in the country. There are no licence fees for owning a radio and, even in rural areas, the majority has access to radio. Televisions are less common but in rural and poor urban areas, community members share TV sets. Mobile phones Mobile telephony has really taken off in Tanzania in the past few years, and most adults own at least one. “Even those who can’t afford a meal a day will have a mobile phone.” Mobile phones have become affordable with a flood of cheap Chinese handsets, selling at about Tsh10,000 (US$4.38) each. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Tanzania 2015 29