….Lagos, P/Harcourt, Kano to enjoy digital viewing from April
The Acting Director General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Prof. Armstrong Idachaba has confirmed the 8th December 2022 deadline for complete switch over from Analogue to digital broadcasting.
Idachaba said Kano and Rivers will be coming up immediately after Lagos rollout.
This is as the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said that the switch over will only come up once 70% of the country has been covered by DSO.
The duo spoke on Thursday during the briefing unveiling DSO rollout/ Analogue Switch off timetable in Abuja.
Idachaba said the phase 2 rollout will commence between April and July 2021, with Lagos taking the lead. Kano and Rivers are other states under the phase 2 rollout.
He said additional ten states would have been added by the end of first quater of 2021.
He said, “following the commencement l of Phase 2 roll out, with switch on in Lagos, Kano and Rivers states between April and July 2021; some 4 to 5 months period will be allowed before meachswitch off to allow for adequate public preparedness.
“By the end of 1st quarter of 2022, an additional 10 states would have been quswitched on under phase 2 namely; Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Yobe, Gombe, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Jigawa and Ebonyi states
“Phase 3 switch on commences in December 2021 and ends with final Analogue Switch off (ASO) on 8th December, 2022.
Minister of Information and Culture who is also the head of the Ministerial Taskforce on DSO explained that within a period of four months starting from April 29th, “we intend to rollout the DSO in four states, three of them heavily-populated states. This is to accentuate our eagerness to take the DSO to as many Nigerians as possible, as well as to ensure its viability as we have now decided that the process will be commercially-driven. Our decision to also kick-start the analogue switch off is a clear testimony to our commitment to complete the DSO process as soon as possible.
“Before we embark on the analogue switch off in any state, we will ensure that the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) signal has covered at least 70% of the population in that state, while the remaining 30% will be covered by Direct-To-Home (DTH) satellite signal Please note that once the analogue signal is switched off, no one on the system will receive television signals anymore”.
The minister also explained some efforts being made to improve signals in some areas covered under phase 1.
He said, “Also, because of the topography of some areas like the Federal Capital Territory, the DTT signal could not effectively cover such areas. staes In such cases, we will deploy DTH satellite signals to areas that are not covered by DTT signals. By complementing out DTT deployment with DTH satellite signals, we are ensuring that no one will be left out of the DSO.”
On affordability of the Set Top Boxes or decoders, the minister said “To ensure the affordability of the boxes, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture will reach out to the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to ensure reduction in the tariff on the raw materials for the manufacture of the Set Top Boxes in Nigeria. We will aim at zero % tariff for the Completely Knocked Down components and not more than 5% tariff for the Semi-Knocked Down component, against the current tariff of 5% for the Completely Knocked Down components and 10% for the Semi-Knocked Down components. By doing so, we will ensure that the Set Top boxes are within the reach of average Nigerians.”
He also added that “The Federal Government will also support the Channel Owners and Content Providers through the implementation of the Audience Measurement system to guarantee a sustained stream of revenue from advertising for them to invest in the development of compelling content. In this regard, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has been directed to implement key policies to guarantee the advertising income of media houses by creating a healthy environment for the media outfits to operate. Very soon, APCON and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) will sign an MoU on zero advertising debts to ensure that revenue from advertisers goes to the media owners.”
