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Nigeria may miss digital broadcasting deadline

By BusinessNews Staff on April 20, 2015

There are indications that Nigeria may miss the deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union to switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting.

The Chairman, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria and Director -General, Nigerian Television Authority, Mr. Sola Omole, and the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Mr. Emeka Mba, gave the hint in Abuja.

The ITU had in 2006 set the deadline of June 17, 2015 for countries to switch off analogue broadcasting in preference for digital broadcasting, which has several advantages, including sharper images and economy of spectrum.

Omole and Mba spoke at a press conference called by BON to announce its first international summit on digital broadcasting.

Omele said the deadline was not cast in stone as the priority of different countries could change. Nigeria had earlier set its own deadline of June 17, 2012 but failed to put measures in place to realise the deadline.

Omole said, “I don’t think the date is cast in stone. June 2015, I don’t think it is cast in stone. Priorities change. We have a new political environment that is emerging. We need to understand what all the priorities are. We are working hard at it. I cannot say definitely. But Nigeria signed to the convention in 2006.

“All efforts are being made to ensure that this thing comes to fruition. The fact that we are holding this summit indicates that this thing can happen. Maybe it will not happen on June 17 but definitely, it will happen.”

He added that failure to meet the deadline would not attract any sanction from the ITU, since countries bordering Nigeria had not announced their switch off dates, there was no likelihood that analogue and digital signals would interfere within the West African sub region.

He added, “We are not going to be cut off. There is no way we are going to be cut off. It is not in the interest of anybody to shut down Nigerian broadcasting. It is impossible.

“Not everybody in Africa is ready. I can count the number of African countries that are ready on my fingers; maybe, three or four.”

Mba, on the other hand, said the reason the world was going digital was to take the advantages that the digital revolution represented and not to disenfranchise current broadcasters and the people with access to digital or analogue television.

He said, “Digital has started. We are challenged by the progress in terms of access to set-top-boxes. There are only three countries in Africa that have been able to do this and if you look at the size of their population and the depth of their broadcasting market, which is very low compared to Nigeria. Even Tanzania that did complete switch off, in my assessment, may have damaged the broadcast market in that country and it is just trying to recover.

“So, this thing has to be done methodically. It has to be done with the best interest of Nigeria and the consumers at heart; not simply because digital transmitters exist.

“We are not doing digital because the technology exists. We are doing it so that we can take advantage of the technology. That is the commitment we have consistently wanted to put out there.”

On whether the country would come up with its own schedule for switch off, Mba said the BON conference coming up in May would give stakeholders in the industry the opportunity to assess the progress that had been made and what still needed to be done.

[Punch]

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