Set-top box developer and manufacturer Altech UEC SA has celebrated the production of its 20-millionth set-top box.
“This is an important milestone in the history of Altech UEC since we first started manufacturing set-top boxes back in 1993,” says Danie du Toit, group MD of Altech Multimedia, under which Altech UEC resides.
“In the past year we invested approximately R60-million in expanding and upgrading our factory infrastructure to cater for demand for terrestrial set-top boxes and this is beginning to pay off. On 25 February, our best day to date, we
manufactured 39 660 set-top boxes, that is one set-top box off the production line every 2,2 seconds,” he adds.
According to Du Toit, the biggest market for Altech UEC at the moment is the rest of Africa due to the roll-out of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).
“Africa is digitising at an increasing rate, with the sub-Saharan market alone estimated to be in excess of 60-million set-top boxes. With our recent upgrades and our focus on productivity and technology innovation, we have the
capability to manufacture 7-million set-top boxes per annum.
“This ensures that Altech UEC is well placed to meet current and future demand for set-top boxes, particularly in light of the migration to DTT, both in South Africa and the rest of Africa,” he says.
Not only did the upgrade to its manufacturing operation lower the cost of production and increase output, it also enabled Altech UEC to create more jobs, in line with the South African government’s job creation objectives.
“The upgrade investments created an additional 120 specialised and sustainable jobs, bringing to more than 700 the number of people employed directly in our manufacturing operations,” Du Toit says.
“In addition to this, we have a global design and development team of approximately 130 engineers. As a Level 2 BBBEE contributor, our investment in technology and production processes is one example of our commitment to
creating employment as part of the digital migration process and government’s overall job creation targets.”
