ITS Ltd and its partners, Startimes, have been commended by National Broadcasting Commission, NBC for putting in place the required transmitters in preparation to fully transit Lagos from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting on April 29.
Speaking after an inspection tour of digital transmitters at NTA Station, Channel 10, Tejuosho, Lagos recently, Acting Director-general of the NBC, Armstrong Idachaba said that the country hopes to have completed the digital rollout by 2022.
He said, “Nigeria has taken a decision that we are continuing with the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. The journey practically began in 2016 with the pilot rollout in Jos. And a few years after, we have gone into phase two. Under phase two, Lagos, Port Harcourt and other cities will be switched on to digital TV. We are going to many other cities and following the rollout time table, we hope that by the end of 2022, we would have completed the digital rollout in Nigeria.
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“This visit to the NTA premises in Tejuosho is in furtherance of this objective. We are glad that ITS Ltd has already installed DVB2 technology. We have seen that the installed capacity for DTT transmission is very high. I acknowledge the role of their partners, Startimes and I think that between NTA and Startimes, there is a great combined effort to ensure that the rollout happens in Lagos and other cities in Nigeria quickly.
“This inspection is reassuring. It means that we have the technical and infrastructural capabilities, and are ready to kick off in Lagos on April 29”, he said in a statement.
On the availability of set-up boxes, the DG said that thirteen indigenous companies have been licensed to produce set-top boxes “because we believe that that is also another strategy to transfer technology and create opportunities for manufacturing within the Nigerian market.”
Also speaking, Alex Jian, Acting CEO, NTA-STAR TV Network, said the company’s technical team is ready to support the nation in transiting fully to digital TV.
“The NBC DG has a big strategy for DSO and NTA Startimes will cooperate very well with ITS Ltd to support this project. Our technical team is ready. We have already prepared ourselves for this switch over all over the country.”
On Startimes’ plan to make digital-tv more accessible to Nigerians, Alex said.“our mission is to provide affordable digital service nationwide. So we are providing affordable decoders and our bouquets are much more affordable”, he said.
