- FG to Switch Off Analogue TV December 2022
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The Nigerian federal government has switched on digital terrestrial television signal in Lagos, saying by December 2022 analogue television signals will no longer be available anywhere in the country.
The Lagos Digital switch over (DSO) follows on the heels of rollouts in cities like Jos, Abuja, Ilorin, Kaduna and Oshogbo by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Digiteam, Broadcast Signal Distributors, Set-Top-Box Manufacturers, the Middleware providers -Inview and Renmore -, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) and creative content producers and all members of the Ministerial Task Force on DSO.
In his keynote address, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed commended the two signals distributors, Integrated Television Services (ITS) and Pinnacle for enabling the completion of this project across the country.
“Today’s event marks the beginning of the second phase of the DSO rollout. It is coming a day before the fifth anniversary of the launch of the pilot programme of the DSO in Jos, Plateau State, on 30 April 2016. After the pilot, the digital television train arrived in the Federal Capital Territory on Dec. 22nd 2016; Kwara State on Dec. 20 2017; Kaduna State on Dec. 22nd 2017; Enugu State on February 12th 2018 and Osun State on February, 23rd 2018.
“From Lagos, the DSO train heads to Kano State on June 3rd; Rivers on July 8th; Yobe on July 15th; Gombe on August 12th; Imo on August 24th; Akwa Ibom on August 31st; Oyo on September 9th; Jigawa on September 23rd; Ebonyi on October 17th; Katsina on October 21st; Anambra on November 4th and Delta on November 18th.
“The DSO platform keys into the Lagos Smart City project. It is about creating jobs, stimulating local content and providing value added services like enforcement of radio and television licences, push video-on demand, while regulating television viewing to Lagos residents.
“The free TV platform will help advertisers target audience, help. Local governments collect radio and TV licences. Free TV will be propelled largely by advertising revenues. Here Lagos State stands out due to its commercial hub status. As we switch on Lagos today, we have over one million set top boxes locally manufactured. By December 2022, we will complete the switch over from analogue to digital TV transmission in Nigeria.
“With free TV, 70 per cent of content will be local. At the end of the day ordinary Nigerians will be able to have access to affordable digital television. There is no monthly subscription and this is welcome development to millions of Nigerians who cannot afford to pay monthly subscriptions to pay TV companies,” the Minister said.
Speaking in his welcome address, the director-general of NBC, Professor Armstrong Idachaba, said the sale of set-top boxes (STB) will create a huge market for employment of people across the nation, creating over five million jobs in the country adding that over 60 channels will receive signals in the first instance.
The NBC director-general said, “when we started the rollout of the switch over three years ago, we agreed that Lagos will only be switched-on after we have done testing with other cities. We have licenced 13 companies in various areas to play important roles in the digital terrestrial television in Nigeria. We have companies manufacturing and assembling set top boxes. Digitisation of broadcasting brings huge opportunities to the economy.
The chairman of Digiteam, Engr. Edward Amana said the DSO journey began 14 years ago at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland. He said Nigeria has been steadfast in pursuibg the DSO project and has in the last few years licensed companies to plays different roles in the project. Companies like Pinnacle Communications Ltd, Renmore Technology Nigeria Ltd, Gospell Technology Ltd, InView Ltd. and several others.
The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the DSO will bring governance closer to the people, helps government collect radio and TV licence fee annually, support the Lagos Smart City project, crate jobs and unleash the creative talents of Nigeria youths especially Lagos residents.
Benefits of DSO
Lagos is Nigeria’s creative hub, hence it is important to harness the creative talents that abound in the state through this project. Also, the DSO provides us with a great platform to key into the Lagos Smart City Project, which seeks to use technology to enhance service delivery in all spheres of life. The DSO is not just about high fidelity sound and picture, it is about creating jobs, especially for our teeming youth, stimulating local content and empowering channel owners.
While the DSO television platform, branded as FreeTV, offers its viewers about 60 digital channels, including sports, music, movies, and news, it also provides Value Added Services, such as
: – Enforcement & Collection of TV Licenses
– Premium PayTV channels
– Push Video on Demand
– Information Services
– Audience Measurement.
The project will therefore enhance the Lagos Smart City Project while revolutionizing television viewing for the more than 5 million TV households in the state. In addition, a large number of the 1 million jobs to be created by the DSO project in the next three years will come from Lagos. Since FreeTV helps to provide Value Added Services, the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 LCDAs in Lagos State will be supported in the collection of Television & Radio Licenses from residents.
With FreeTV’s push system for information services, the FreeTV platform can be used to broadcast information on Lagos State activities to all viewers. It will also help Advertisers in Lagos to target which programmes and channels are being watched by the audience, while Lagosians can also cash in on the Push Video-on-Demand capability of the FreeTV platform to access premium blockbuster Nollywood movies from the comfort of their homes.
FreeTV will be propelled largely by advertising revenue. Again, Lagos State stands out in this regard. With 70% of the nation’s advertisement revenue and over 5 million TV households, in addition to being the country’s creative hub, there is no doubt that Lagos is one of the engines of the DSO project
In the new digital ecosystem, 70 per cent of content on 24-hour television would be local. These will contain an assembly of TV shows, sitcoms, documentaries, music videos, drama series, talent and reality shows, sports, etc