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BRIEFING:
From left; Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Mrs. Maimunna Jimada; Director
General, Mr. Emeka Mba and Director, Public Affairs, National Broadcasting
Commission (NBC), Mallam Awwalu Salihu during a world media briefing on the
Digital Switch Over (DSO) in Nigeria, by the Commission, in Lagos, yesterday.
Photo by Kehinde Gbadamosi.
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Although
Nigeria could not meet the June 17, 2015 deadline of transiting to
digital terrestrial broadcasting set by the International Telecommunications
Union, there are positive signals that the transition is possible.
Reasons:
The Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Emeka Mba in
a press conference yesterday disclosed that the Commission had secured ₦34
billion slightly less than 50% of the initial estimated budget of ₦70
billion.
How
the fund was raised
The
fund, according to the NBC boss was raised by the commission after
successfully licensing MTN Nigeria Ltd to use a part of the 700MHz to
provide digital pay TV broadcasting services.
Vanguard report continues:
According
to Mba, NBC as part of the roadmap to Digital Switch Over, DSO, has coordinated
another agreement with the West African neighbours and have agreed on
a new deadline of June 20, 2017 to complete the digital switchover and achieve
analogue switch off.
Even
though the government was to provide both direction and
financial support to enable the country meet the high expense elements of the
transition, Mba assured that, “With the current arrangement through which we
have secured more than half of our budgetary needs to transit, and as we
explore other avenues, we are confident that the new date is achievable”.
It
would be recalled that the Commission had budgeted ₦70
billion for successful transition to DSO but was unable to secure it
from government because of lack of available fund. As a result, the
government had to cut the budget to ₦50 billion.
Nigeria points the way
for African countries
Through
this singular move, Nigeria he said has once again pointed the way for
other African countries struggling with the effort of finding financing for their
own digital switchover programmes.
“It
was not until June 17, 2012 that the White Paper giving direction to the
process came out. Again, we continued doing those things we could which
included engaging and sensitising the broadcast sector, setting out the
technical specifications for the set top box and putting in place then
Electronic Programme Guide system, in addition to a successful pilot project in
Jos, Plateau State. “All this while we were waiting for the financing of
our budget of ₦70 billion from Government.
“When
it became obvious that government could not spare the money, and in order to
avoid missing another deadline, we began to consider other options” he said.
Way forward to
transition Set top boxes
According
to Mba, off-shore mass production and delivery of initial subvented boxes for
Jos pilot project is envisaged to be completed by end of October, while the
local manufacture of the set top boxes is expected to begin in April 2016.
Signal transmission
infrastructure
The
critical activities for this segment, he said included publishing
the RFP, concluding the national signal mapping, awarding the transmission
MDAs, designating the ITS for Jos and beginning live digital transmission. We plan
to be done with these by the end of December, 2015, he added.
Pay TV DAF cash
As
part of efforts to ensure the sustainable funding of the national digital
terrestrial infrastructure, the government, according to the NBC boss approved
a fixed annual service charge payable on all DTT set top boxes and TV sets,
this fee known as the Digital Access Fee (DAF) shall also be paid by all
current operators on the DTT spectrum.
Channels
RFP
By
the end of December 2015, he said that NBC intended to have,
through due process allocated the Freeview licences and launch the Jos
pilot channels.
CAS/data centre
“This
is part of the brain box of the nation’s digital operations. In this
segment we plan to have the building works, the commissioning of the data
centre mother integration of the headed and the live deployment of the Central
Authentication Service by the first week of November”, he explained.
Contact centre set up
By
the end of November 2015, Mba said that NBC plans plan to complete the process
of setting up the Contact Centre, which becomes available for all enquiries
from members of the public regarding the implementation of the DSO
DSO long term economic
impact
When
fully completed, Nigeria’s self-funding of DSO programme is expected to
creates three hundred and twenty billion pa win-win-win for, consumers, receive
over 30 new free to air channels per annum for the price of a ₦1,500
STB and a host of value added services such as news, information and
video on demand.
With
optimism, he said that a new leading digital economy will be established from
the development of a whole TV and content ecosystem, two hundred billion
per annum boost from additional advertising, content and Nollywood income
streams and development of high tech STB manufacturing industry.
With this, government , he
said is expected to receive one hundred billion income
from spectrum sales as well as a thriving digital economy generating at
least fifty five thousand highly skilled jobs.
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