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Nigeria ripe for digital broadcasting – Nweke

By BusinessNews Staff on July 1, 2014

The Director-General, Nigerian Economic Summit Group and former Minister of Information, Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr, talks about the prospects and challenges of digital broadcasting in this interview with OZIOMA UBABUKOH

There has been much talk of digital migration in television broadcasting in Nigeria by 2015, how feasible is this, given the nation’s energy challenges?

The migration from analogue to digital is very crucial in ensuring that Nigerians have easy access to information, which is necessary for a growing economy like ours. Information is as important as the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter, thus access to it should not be exclusive to a certain class in the society. The transition to digital broadcasting has a lot of advantages and deserves to attract the attention of every stakeholder in the sector. One of such advantages is the fact that digital broadcasting would ensure quality audio and visuals, relative to the current analogue broadcasting, which is predominantly the status quo in many parts of the country.

I think the Nigerian government has done so well in setting January 1, 2015 as the deadline for the transition, just months before the International Telecommunications Union deadline of June 2015. However, what we should be concerned about is whether we have the appropriate structures in place to enable us to achieve this deadline. How well do we track the level of progress that has been made and what can we do to improve the implementation of our plan? These are the critical issues that I think we should pay attention to.

It is important for us to note that the challenge of energy affects every aspect of the Nigerian economy and its effect is not limited to the media sector. Therefore, I believe that in setting targets, we should not be constrained by the power situation in the country.

Should we be talking about migration instead of penetration now?

It is safe to assume that a significant number Nigerians have radio, television sets and other devices for receiving both public and private information. Ranging from the black and white television sets of the past to the more modern television devices today, Nigerians in rural and urban areas have access to basic television programmes aired by different service providers. The larger portion of our population can access basic private and state owned terrestrial stations, which are completely free.

In the case of migration, there is already some form of development as mostly Foreign Service providers such as DSTV are making digital TV accessible to Nigerians; but only a smaller proportion of the population can afford their services. However, StarTimes has been praised for being able to provide low and middle-income earners access to digital TV, as it is quite affordable. Such private investors should be allowed to drive the digital migration process in order to create competition, which eventually will lead to a drop in the cost of pay TV services in the end.

But the digital divide between the developed countries and Nigeria for instance is so wide; can we cope?

We cannot cope as the local Nigerian media industry still faces certain problems, which must be addressed before the digitalisation process can successfully take off. Such issues include:

Exclusivity of content and channels – We should consider how content and channels will be distributed to the general public especially as platform providers are becoming more demanding for content development. Most Free-To-Air stations will convert to payTV stations that will demand payment before viewers can access their content and many Nigerians may not be able to afford this. Given the poverty situation in Nigeria, it is reasonable to assume that our most vulnerable citizens will be more preoccupied with survival rather than payment for TV services.

Lack of funds for terrestrial stations – Local Free-To-Air stations facing financial problems will not be able to efficiently and effectively convert from analogue to digital streams as this will involve a higher cost. In order for the necessary equipment for migration to be acquired, such media companies must invest funds in the conversion process; money which they don’t have.

Infrastructure – The quality of Nigeria’s infrastructure is very poor and the digitalisation process requires excellent infrastructure. The epileptic power supply, which is the most important form of infrastructure is an inhibiting factor, as power production at about 3,200 megawatts as of March 2014 continues to decline due to gas shortages in the economy. ICT is another important factor for the digitalisation process to succeed and Nigeria has an internet penetration level of 33 per cent only according to Ministry of Communication Technology.

Do you think most television broadcasting stations can effectively handle digital broadcasting knowing how states treat Federal Government policies?

The role of government policies in this regard is to create the enabling environment and regulate competition as broadcasting stations improve and expand their services into digital broadcasting. The ability of stations to achieve digitisation therefore rests more on their quest to better serve the viewing population and capture greater market share.

As a development-minded intellectual, what would you advise Nigeria to do to be at par with other countries in the area of digital broadcasting?

Well, I believe it is important for us to have appropriate structures and policies in place to enable us achieve the goal of digital broadcasting. We need to understand that optimism is necessary but not sufficient in achieving this task. When Nigeria initially set the first transition deadline for April 2012, very little was done on the part of the government and operators to achieve this goal. So, I believe adequate plans and structures have to be in place.

The government in particular should provide investment incentives to industry players that are willing to obtain digital- compliant studio equipment, support the provision of affordable set-top boxes by Nigerians, create public awareness about the transition, and also enforce standards and ensure industry players comply with these standards.

This brings us to the issue of access to credit at low interest rates or under special conditions, without which the migration to digital broadcasting may be in jeopardy. Furthermore, the government should consider the digitisation process as a major opportunity to create jobs by ensuring the establishment of local capacity for manufacturing affordable set-top boxes in Nigeria. The sheer size of our market makes adequate business case for local manufacturing in this sector.

What challenges do you think this migration would pose for Nigeria?

This migration involves huge costs:

Firstly, when migration is achieved, television viewing may only be possible with the aid of set-top boxes, also called decoders, using the Digital Terrestrial Transmission technology or a digital television. This means that the TV sets owned by a large number of viewers will become redundant unless they have been so configured.

Secondly, there is the added cost of hiring skilled personnel to train and re-train employees working in the broadcasting sector to be able to handle these complex equipment and those who may not be flexible enough to cope with the new technology may lose their jobs adding to Nigeria’s existing burden of unemployment

Lastly, investment in public awareness and education will also need to take place, a large proportion of Nigeria’s population are illiterate (48.9 percent). These people need to be aware of the process and how to correctly exploit its advantages.

Content development also plays a significant role in the adoption of digital television. Although the switchover promises improved picture and sound quality, ultimately the quality experienced by viewers depends on how engaging, relevant and informative the content is particularly with the possibility of more television channels which also have to be paid for by the consumers themselves (through PayTV), the governments (the State broadcaster) and advertisers (through free-to-air channels)

There is also the issue of change in laws and regulations: Policies must be formulated to specify and monitor standards for the manufacture and distribution of these set-top boxes; also for content providers. This means there has to be a collaborative effort made by all stakeholders involved to ensure a smooth transition, such as the Digital Donza in South Africa which brought the government, broadcasters, content providers together and representatives of the consumers to coordinate the process

Problems of power supply and dependency on generators also add to the cost of programme production and presentation.

Does security pose any additional challenges?

Security poses some additional challenges; the infrastructure in place to assist the migration will need to be protected from vandalism. Nonetheless, digital broadcasting can be used as a method of tackling religious extremism in Nigeria. For instance, the US launched AREWA 24, a 24-hour television station in Nigeria providing family-oriented programmes, as a method to help counter Boko Haram’s propaganda efforts and extremist broadcasts. Nigeria’s failure to migrate may hinder such efforts.

Can you do a brief comparative analysis of ICT capacity and utilisation in developing countries especially in Africa?

ICT capacity utilisation across Africa is perhaps one of the fastest- growing around the world and the most impactful across multiple economic sectors. On the development side, we have seen ICT deployed in education, health, agriculture, skills acquisition and so on. Countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and many more in Africa, have a lot of success stories on how ICT deployment in economic sectors has helped leapfrog into fast-paced stages of growth and development in those sectors.

On the business side, it is important to note that Africa remains a relatively virgin market with just about 10% internet penetration across the entire continent. There is therefore significant room for ICT deployment and higher capacity utilisation.

[Punch]

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