East African nation Rwanda has set July 31, 2014 as its digital migration deadline, joining a range of African nations who are trying to beat a global June 2015 international deadline.

Local communication regulatory authority, the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA), has announced the deadline after the country failed to deliver the digital shift in December 2012, blaming the delay on various technicalities including a lack of enough set-top boxes (STBs) in the country.

“Initially, the scarcity of digital TV converters had hampered the migration process but with the commitment shown by the authorised vendors of STBs with regard to importation and shipping, we have decided to permanently switch over to digital broadcasting by the end of July,” Regis Gatarayiha, RURA’s director general said.

Rwandan neighbour Kenya has also severally postponed its digital migration, citing issues with the set top boxes availability and readiness of viewers to buy them.