We are not responsible for set-top boxes’ activation hiccups – Pinnacle
One of the licensed signal distributors in the TV Digital Switch over process, Pinnacle Communications Limited, has said it is not responsible for set-top boxes’ activation hiccups experienced by some residents of Abuja. The Abuja digital television platform was switched on three weeks ago at the Pinnacle Broadcast Centre by President Muhammad Buhari, who was […]
One of the licensed signal distributors in the TV Digital Switch over process, Pinnacle Communications Limited, has said it is not responsible for set-top boxes’ activation hiccups experienced by some residents of Abuja.
The Abuja digital television platform was switched on three weeks ago at the Pinnacle Broadcast Centre by President Muhammad Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) had given Nigeria up to June 20 to switch off its analogue TV broadcast. The Abuja switch on ceremony therefore signaled the gradual phase-out of analogue TV in the country. However, controversy has been trailing the activation of some of the set-top boxes that were used after the hitch-free Digital Switch Over (DSO). But Pinnacle Communications Limited, the signal distributor in charge of Abuja, said at the weekend that it was not the company making or activating the set-top boxes.
It said in a statement: “It is on record that the contract to produce and supply set-top boxes were awarded to about seven different companies by the Emeka Mba’s led National Broadcasting Commission (Pinnacle Communications not included) and these companies were saddled with the activation of the set up boxes which experienced some hiccups after the switch-on. “During the commissioning of the Pinnacle Broadcast Centre by President Muhammudu Buhari who was represented by Vice President, Yemi Osinbanjo, he lauded the successful launch of the pilot scheme in Jos in April, which he said has clearly demonstrated the gains of digitization, stressing that the development has encouraged indigenous companies to invest in manufacturing of Set-Top-Boxes (STBs).
“Pinnacle Commun-ications was quite visible in the process that culminated to Digital Switch Over (DSO) from analogue to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting in Abuja on account of being a major player in the setting up of the Abuja platform at the Pinnacle Broadcast Centre, Mpape but it was not in charge of the set up boxes that experienced activation problems”.
But to ensure that the hitches regarding the activation of the set top boxes were nip in the bud, the NBC on its Facebook page directed Abuja TV viewers to send their decoder unique ID as SMS to 09099966669, adding that it regrets any inconvenience the hitches might have caused the viewers.