Media investors will no longer need to put up their own masts or networks if Cabinet approves a proposal by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) to hire out national infrastructure to investors entering the Kenyan market.

The proposal will introduce three operations; public TV, commercial TV, and a new signals distribution division. The public broadcaster's creation of the signals network is very significant in that it will in one sweep remove the single greatest barrier to entry into the national telecoms and media markets.

The proposed transmission division will operate under the SigNet trademark and will enable the national broadcaster to fulfill its mandate as the appointed digital signal distributor.

The division is to operate as an independent provider of masts for leasing to broadcasters and telecoms operators, reducing operation costs for commercial broadcasters especially in running masts in rural areas that often require use of diesel driven generators.

KBC's proposed transformation is seen as a strategy of positioning itself before the country switches to digital TV by 2015.