Victor EzejaNATIONAL Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has assured of timely and efficient completion of Digital Switch Over (DSO) project across Nigeria in order to create a people-centered information society that would connect underserved populations and remote communities in the country and hence provide inclusion for all.
This was made known by Director General of NBC, Mallam Balarabe Shehu Ilelah at the launch of the DSO in Kano.
Ilelah said the commission is keying into President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s agenda to democratize information in digital broadcasting, empower the people and create millions of jobs along the value chain.
“Three days ago,100 artisans from the 44 Local councils were trained on FreeTV dealership, installation and activation,” Ilelah, stated.
He said the beneficiaries are Kano state indigenes being empowered to take up the task of dealership, installation and activation of the set-top boxes in the homes, and those who end up as dealers may engage more hands to work with them which is in tandem with the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari on job creation.
Also speaking at the Kano DSO launch Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed highlighted the key benefits of digital television broadcasting such as: “wider choice in TV and radio channels, improved picture quality, for example, High Definition (HD) and Ultra High Definition (UHD), high-fidelity sound, greater flexibility with the potential for portable and mobile reception, enhanced information services including the electronic programming guide or enhanced ‘teletext’ services, potential for interactivity and increased market competition,” Mohammed stated.
He added, “We have also instituted a number of reforms, some of them necessitating amendments to the broadcasting code which we have since carried out, with a view to encouraging investments in the broadcast industry in particular and the creative industry in general.”
A digital switchover is the migration of television broadcast technology from analogue to digital system. Kano is the second state in phase two of the DSO rollout after Lagos in April this year. With Plateau state pioneering the DSO in Nigeria, other states that followed the phase one rollout plan were Kaduna, Enugu, Kwara, Osun, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The Information Minister urged state governments in the country to provide set-top boxes to various homes as a form of social services that would make the people at the grassroots feel the pulse of governance and also bridge the existing information gap.
He added that “for Kano state in particular, with a population of over 15 million people, governance will be revolutionised if each of the 2.4million television households can have a set-top box.”
Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje who hosted the event, said his administration has studied the DSO and has identified areas it could use to promote digital technology in broadcasting.
In line with the Federal Government’s drive to achieve a nationwide digital switchover, NBC has listed Rivers State in the South-South as the next in line to undergo switchover in order to start consuming reach broadcast contents that the digital broadcasting technology offers.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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