Nigeria, others must switch to digital broadcasting this month, ITU insists …No cause for alarm – NBC

The ITU said in a statement Nigeria and other countries under it must comply with the June 17 switch over as there would not be extension of deadline.But has been made clear last month by the Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Mr Emeka Mba that Nigeria would meet the ITU deadline on […]

The ITU said in a statement Nigeria and other countries under it must comply with the June 17 switch over as there would not be extension of deadline.
But has been made clear last month by the Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Mr Emeka Mba that Nigeria would meet the ITU deadline on June 17.
The telecommunications union has not come out to state the sanction that would be waiting for Nigeria, but experts told Daily Trust that the country risked being suspended by the ITU.
A broadcast industry expert, Dipo Onifade, said Nigeria’s analogue broadcasting would interfere with its neighbors’ who may have digitalized theirs.
He said when this happened ITU would just fold its hands; it would reel out sanctions.
But Mba said there is no cause for alarm as no neighbor has switched yet.
He said members of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) would soon decide on what to tell the ITU. He believes Nigeria and others who would not meet the deadline would not be axed by ITU. 
Member countries of the ITU include all the countries  in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The deadline for switching off analogue television broadcasting in the UHF band was set by ITU member states 2006.
Digital TV broadcasting offers many advantages over analogue systems for end-users, operators and regulators, the ITU said in a statement signed by Sanjay Acharya Chief, Media Relations and Public Information of ITU and Grace Petrin Communication Officer, of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau.
 Apart from increasing the number of channels, digital systems can provide new innovative services, such as interactive TV, electronic programme guides and mobile TV as well as transmit image and sound in high-definition (HDTV) and ultra-high definition (UHDTV). Digital TV requires less energy to ensure the same coverage as for analogue while decreasing overall costs of transmission. The more efficient use of radio spectrum brought on by digital TV also allows for the so-called digital dividend resulting from the freeing up of spectrum for use by other services, such as mobile broadband.
Countries around the world are actively working towards the switchover to digital television. Several countries that are parties to the 2006 agreement, as well as many who are not, have already made the transition; others are in the process of doing so.
“As the specialized agency of the United Nations dealing with information and communication technologies, including spectrum and satellite orbit issues, ITU will keep supporting the development of new technologies,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.
“I congratulate administrations around the world which have successively switched to digital television broadcasting and I also wish all success to those still in the process of doing so”, Zhao said.