The Director General of Zambia's national broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) says the service will fully migrate to digital broadcasting in the next four years.

Richard Mwanza said there are still a number of things that have to be completed, including the purchasing of migration equipment.

Zambia migrated to digital broadcasting last year in line with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) June 2015 deadline. However, the country only managed to migrate in the capital Lusaka and towns along the line of rail.

"ZNBC remains the monopoly of broadcasting in the country with a vast viewership and listenership. I'm optimistic that the corporation will fully migrate to digital transmission in the next four years," Mwanza said.

The Zambian government has awarded phase 2 and 3 of the country's digital migration project to Star Software Technologies of China at a cost of $273 million.

The Southern African country said it is funding the digital migration project as a demonstration of its commitment to ensuring that the country keeps up with the global development of digital television broadcasting technology.

Last month, the Zambian government said it has borrowed $300 million from the Import Bank of China for phase 2 and 3 of the country's digital migration project.

The contract between Star Software Technologies and the Zambian government comprises the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of digital terrestrial broadcasting to cover the rest of the country and studio equipment for ZNBC as well as for ten new provincial broadcasting stations that the government wants to establish.

It also involves the construction of the national operating centre for the Public Signal Distributor and rehabilitation of ZNBC and the Zambian News and Information Services (ZANIS) studios.

Through Star Software Technologies, the Zambian government also intends to buy 1 million decoders, which will be given to the public on credit.