Digital migration: More questions as Nigeria nears new deadline

After missing out on two major deadlines, the federal government has begun transmitting from analogue to digital broadcasting in Jos, Plateau State, ahead of the June 2017 global deadline for the Digital Switch-Over, (DSO). The pilot scheme which held last month, if successfully achieved would set the pace for other states to follow. But is […]

After missing out on two major deadlines, the federal government has begun transmitting from analogue to digital broadcasting in Jos, Plateau State, ahead of the June 2017 global deadline for the Digital Switch-Over, (DSO).
The pilot scheme which held last month, if successfully achieved would set the pace for other states to follow.
But is Nigeria really prepared for the transmission? After the 2006 Geneva agreement between the International Telecommunication Union, (ITU), and its 119 member countries, to which the country was a signatory, to transit to digital television broadcasting in 2015, Nigeria and 51 other African countries at that time failed to meet the deadline with the implication that analogue signals from Nigerian broadcasting stations would receive no protection in the event of interference with or from digital signals from neighbouring countries.
The National Broadcasting Commission, (NBC), had attributed Nigeria’s inability to transit from analogue to digital broadcasting to paucity of funds, though experts added that the lack of proper planning was also a factor.
Nigeria requested for an extension by the ITU and with the new focus of June 2017, because there were reports that if the analogue transmitters should interfere with any digital broadcast in the neighbouring countries, the organization can force the country to shut down its own analogue transmitters.
The then NBC boss, Emeka Mba, was reported to have acknowledged that the process would help set free from the broadcasters some spectrum frequencies, otherwise known as digital dividend, which other sectors, especially the telecommunications industry, can deploy to provide better services.
Also, Pinnacle Communications which sued the NBC in 2013 for N1.2 trillion over alleged breach of license agreement is yet to withdraw its lawsuit although reports says its planning to do so.
Pinnacle which won a carrier license made available by the federal government alleged that NBC rescinded on the agreement as contained in the federal government White Paper on transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting.
In a report by a news medium, the Executive Director of Pinnacle, Mr. Dipo Onifade, said that the litigation would be withdrawn as soon as all grey areas are cleared, adding that the firm was ready to play its own part in ensuring that the June 2017 deadline for the migration is realised.
But the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at the launch of the digital switch-over said “when we came in, a cloud of uncertainty and confusion hung over Nigeria’s digital transition. There were no Set-Top Boxes, without which the transition could not be kick-started; there was no established signal distributor on ground. There were no software and security devices for protection of the boxes.”
He also noted that “banks had cancelled the Letters of Credit that were granted for the importation of Set-Top Boxes and no one could say for sure if indeed we will meet the third deadline of June 2017 to fully switch to digital broadcasting.”
The minister said critics were writing off the country, adding that it had no capacity to transit and investor confidence was waning. He also said but government had to swing into action by setting up an inter-ministerial task force to show it has the political will to drive the process.
While reeling out the benefits of digitization, Mohammed said the industry is being “revolutionized to provide better visuals and sound quality and also promote variety of television stations and channels across the country at an affordable price.”
He also explained that to ensure the smooth transition of the scheme, the federal government has equally approved high subsidy for the set-top boxes
On the benefits of the switch-over, Mohammed  stressed that aside offering Nigerians  high quality sound and high resolution pictures, the federal government was already using the process to create jobs for Nigerian youths.
He said three digital signal distribution companies paid a sum of N600 million each to the federal government to be licensed, before the kick start of the switch over. They are Pinnacle, Details Nigeria Limited, and MTS Communications.
“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.”
He added that switch over is the much-needed panacea to the menace of piracy dogging the music and movie industries. This, according to him, is because musicians and movie producers would be able to release their works directly to the platform, where they can be purchased, thus checking piracy. In addition, the transition from analogue to digital will trigger a chain of retailers and installers of the set top boxes, with massive impact on the local economy.
Chairman of the Set Top Boxes Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, Godfrey Ohuabunwa, explained that the boxes were of high quality, putting Nigeria ahead of most countries.
The federal government had approved the digital migration process in 2007 through the NBC which set a self-deadline of January 1, 2015 as the switch off date. Also a Presidential Advisory Committee, (PAC), on the transition was also inaugurated in 2008 with the mandate to come up with a recommendation, regulatory framework and a broadcasting model for the process.
It submitted its report in 2009, with several recommendations one of which was that the country would switch off its analogue broadcasting on January 1, 2015.
That did not take place. But not only that, the June deadline was also missed due to some political reasons.
Also the Acting Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Alheri Saidu, said the target to conclude the process in 2012 failed twice – 2012 and 2015 – before the deadline of June 2017 was given.