Kampala, (UG):- The heavy rains on Friday afternoon left most free-to-air channels off after a lightning strike on UBC’s transmission towers at Kololo.
A video making rounds on social media showed the tower which transmits signals from the main country’s broadcaster shuttered by the lightning strike that caused a fire outbreak and burnt down several wires.
The strike further affected radio stations that use the Naguru mast also picking from the main towers of the Kololo transmitter.
“We regret to inform the public that most free-to-air channels are currently off-air due to a lightning strike on our Kololo transmission towers,” UBC said in an announcement on Friday at around 7 pm.
The National Broadcaster added that its “engineering team is working to assess the damage and restore transmission as quickly as possible.”
“Unfortunately, the strike on the towers has also affected some radios and UBC TV on some Pay TV platforms. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience and understanding.”
Uganda, through its communications regulator UCC switched off analogue signals in Kampala and surrounding districts on June 17, 2015, to meet the deadline that was drawn by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
In a move to complete the migration to digital, Signet was born after a digital migration policy recommended that the national broadcaster; Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) be split into two segments; the content generation arm (UBC) and signal distribution arm (Signet).
The transmitter was entrusted to distribute free-to-air signals countrywide. But to date, less than 10 districts; of Kampala, Entebbe, Mukono, Kayunga, Kamuli, Jinja, Mpigi, and Wakiso in Uganda have reliable access to free-to-air signals.
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