It is barely two months since Kenya began transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, but already the businesses opportunities arising from the process are being enjoyed by different people.
Top on the list of people in the East African nation who are reaping big from the process are technicians.
They have become one of the most sought-after persons as Kenyans seek them to troubleshoot various problems their set-top boxes have encountered.
“I am very happy with the digital migration process because of the business opportunity it has brought. Right now I am overwhelmed with work in a way I had never envisioned,” technician Vincent Musyoka, who also doubles up as a mobile phone repairer, said on Tuesday.
Musyoka, who is among tens of others in the business in Nairobi, solves his clients’ problems both physically and on phone.
Seated in his shop along Tom Mboya Street in Nairobi, the technician receives dozens of calls with people seeking his advice when their gadgets malfunction.
“Kindly switch off your decoder first, then unplug the aerial from it. Then plug it back, power the decoder and the television and let’s see if pictures come,” he gave the directions on phone as he tried to assist a client.
In his stall there is a small television that he uses to test the gadgets. Musyoka powers it on and tries to test a decoder he was working on if it is in perfect condition.
He would charge the owner 13.2 U.S. dollars for the work, part of the money which went to buying a new diode. However, his charges are between 5.5 dollars and 22 dollars depending on the problem the decoder has. Musyoka repairs up to 10 gadgets in a week, besides handling queries on phone.
“Most of those seeking our services are people who have free to air gadgets. The others who buy pay TV ones seek services from the companies offering the content,” said computer technician Chris Bwire, who also repairs smart phones, TVs and laptops.
He noted that the major problems he attends on the gadgets are those caused by power surge.
“The power defect is the biggest enemy of the decoders as it burns several gadgets inside the machine. The good thing is that they can be replaced,” said Bwire, who attends to at least two queries on set-top boxes in a day, with some from up-country.
Bernard Mwaso of Edell IT Solution in Nairobi noted that with millions of gadgets brought in Kenya, the technicians have unlimited business opportunities.
“I can only compare this to cars where their rise has offered thousands of Kenyans jobs as mechanics. The good thing for the technicians is that digital migration process is here to stay,” he said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
