FG earns N1.8bn from licensing 3 firms to commence digital TV switchover

Three digital signal distribution companies have paid N1.8 billion in order to obtain licences to kick-start digital television switchover just launched in Nigeria.

Confirming the development Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja, Lai Muhammed, minister of information and culture, said the Federal Government licensed each of the three digital signal distribution companies at the rate of N600 million each.

Muhammed, who is optimistic that Nigeria will be able to beat the June 2017 deadline for ECOWAS digital switchover, insisted that the digitisation project must continue irrespective of irregularities that had taken place in the past.

Unlike the analogue broadcasting, the digital broadcasting technology is not limited to the delivery of TV programmes only. Value added and interactive services such as Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), TV shopping, weather forecasts, electronic newspapers, etc, can also be accessed on the TV set by the viewer, ushering in a new TV viewing experience.

“Digitisation is public private sector driven initiative; it is democratisation of entire TV station broadcasting. Government would end up making more money from digitisation. We have licensed 13 set up boxes manufactures and four of them are on ground,” the minister said, explaining what the country stood to gain from the project.

“We have also licensed three digital signal distributors and each of these distributors have paid as much as N600 million for just being licensed,” he said.

The transition from analogue to digital broadcasting began in Jos at the weekend, with the giving out of 200,000 digital switch-over set up boxes DSO to commence the pilot phase of digital switchover in Nigeria.

The journey, according to the minister, which started in 2004, when the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council adopted Resolution 1185 on transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting, is finally nearing its destination.

The minister said the free 200,000 digital switchover boxes were for the pilot phase in Jos and targeting 30 million viewers across the country, which will make Nigeria the biggest free TV market in the world.

Three dates are significant in the history of TV in Nigeria: 1959 when the WNBC launched the first TV station in Africa, 1976, when the first colour TV was switched on, also here in the city of Jos, and this year 2016, when we are transiting from analogue to digital in the same Jos.

This, the minister said, is a monumental event, because with the switchover, Nigeria is revolutionising the broadcast landscape and architecture, as well as the local, state and national economy.

In the switchover process, the average Jos person does not need to pay subscription to watch the best news and entertainment from around the world with high quality sound and high resolution picture, which are equal – if not superior – to any in the world, compared to when the average Jos person can only watch five TV channels at best, he can now watch 15 TV channels, local and international news as well as local and foreign entertainment.

Speaking further on the potential gains of the switchover, the minister stated, “For TV stations, this will mean a whole new experience, as they will no longer need to worry about signal transmission, thus paying more attention to content. For content providers, this is boom time, as the demand for content will skyrocket, thus allowing our youth to give vent to their creativity. For viewers, there will be a harvest of channels.

“In terms of the economy, all licensed Set Top Box manufacturers have been mandated to establish manufacturing companies in Nigeria to produce the boxes locally, after importing the first set of boxes. This will create massive employment and also ensure the transfer of technology for our people. Also, due to availability of many channels, there will be an astronomical increase in the need for content, and this will fire the creative ability of our youths.”

“The switch over will also become the much-needed panacea to the menace of piracy dogging the music and movie industries. This is because musicians and movie producers will be able to release their works directly to the platform, where they can be purchased, thus wrong-footing those who have been pirating their works. In addition, the transition from analogue to digital will trigger a chain of retailers and installers of the Set Top Boxes, with a massive impact on the local economy.”