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Lagos City Goes Live With Digital Terrestrial TV

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  • FG to Switch Off Analogue TV December 2022  
  • One Million Set To Boxes On Offer
  • To create 5 million jobs

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

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TechEconomy Publisher, Peter Oluka Joins NiRA Board

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Peter Oluka (@peterolukai), the Editor of TechEconomy has joined the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) Executive Board of Directors (EBoD).

Peter, a multi-award winner practicing ICT Journalist was elected at the 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) cum election held in Lagos on Friday at The Zone, Lagos where Mr. Adesola Akinsanya and Mr. Murtala Abdullahi emerged the new President and the Vice President respectively.

They took over from Mr. Mohammed Rudman and Mr. Toba Obaniyi in that order. Other members elected into NIRA Executive Board of Directors (EBoD) at the meeting are; Mr. Ebenezer Dare of Hostlag Limited, and Seun Kehinde of QServers Networks Limited.

Meanwhile, five members have been elected to the Board of Trustees of NiRA. They are; Mrs Ibukun Odusote; Publisher of ITRealms, Mr. Remmy Nweke; former Financial Secretary of NiRA, Mr. Biyi Oladipo; former NIRA president, Mrs. Mary Uduma and Executive Director Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) Mr. Yunusa Zakari Ya’u.

Peter Oluka has been a .ng Domain Name Brand Ambassador since 2015). He actually started his mainstream journalism in 2010 working with the Nigerian NewsDirect Newspaper. His penchant for newsworthy events and stunts registered NewsDirect’s presence in the league of Property & Environment and Labour pious media outfits.

He also Co-founded GrassRoots.ng, a news platform rooted in Speaking for the Global Citizen. He also Co-founded Njalo.ng; an online marketplace for ‘Easy sell & Easy Buy’ or new and used products. 

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Nigerian Active Phones Tops 209m

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The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Professor Umar Danbatta disclosed this while delivering the Keynote Address at the dinner hosted by the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Media Merit Award, NMMA, to flag-off the commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of NMMA as Africa’s foremost media excellence recognition institution, at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel on Tuesday night.

“This represents a teledensity of 109.47%. Besides, basic Internet subscriptions have also grown from zero in the pre-liberalisation era to over 152 million. It is also gratifying that the broadband subscriptions now stand at 85 million, representing a 44.49% penetration,” Danbatta said.

Dwelling on the topic, “The NCC New Strategic Vision (Implementation) Plan (SVP) 2021-2025: A Transformation Agenda”,which signposts thedirection of the Nigerian telecom industry in the next five years,Danbatta recalled the trajectory of the evolution of telecoms in Nigeria.

Represented by the Director, Public Affairs of the NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, the CEO of NCC, he recalled the nation’s showing of a paltry 18,724 telephone lines at independence in 1960 to serve a population of 40 million people, translating to a teledensity of 0.5 at that time.

Today, “the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector contributed 18.44 per cent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2022. From this figure, telecommunications sector alone contributed 15 per cent,” Danbatta said to place on record the unprecedented contribution of the telecom and ICT industry to GDP.

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N200 Billion ICT Bank and other Strategies to Rescue the Nigerian Telecom Sector 

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By Elvis Eromosele

The Nigerian telecommunications sector must have nine lives. No, it is not a cat. It is however almost always in a near constant mortal struggle with the forces that be – read, government and its agents. The fact that it’s still here means that it has somehow managed to survive, remained sustainable and even dared to thrive. It is a phenomenon that ought to be studied. 

Every indicator shows that the telecom sector remains the bright spot in the nation’s weak economy. It drives socio-economic development, boosts productivity and contributes to improving the lives of citizens like no other sector. 

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted negatively on the global economy by precipitating lockdown and economic disruptions with transport, tourism and aviation sectors tumbling. The telecom sector however continued to “buga”. It saw an increase in voice service and massive growth of digital channels for daily routine activities ranging from telecommuting to entertainment and social engagements. The sector witnessed the growth and saw huge profits as financial reports from major operators show. 

The Nigeria Telecom sector is a gift that keeps on giving. It has witnessed strong growth in recent years and is expected to have continued growth over the foreseeable future. The growth in the sector, according to industry watchers, has been driven by the increasing population, growing demand for communication services, and rising adoption of smartphone services. Some experts have pointed to strong support by the regulatory authorities which in recent times has led to the licensing of the 5G network in the country – a feat some have called the first in Africa. 

Investors in telecom operations are smiling at the bank. It is not surprising therefore that everyone wants a piece of the action, even the government. 

It must be stated that the government collects the value-added tax, annual operating levies, licensing fees and duties among others. This is in addition to all the other statutory taxes including PAYE and withholding tax. 

Now, there are reports that the Finance Minister, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, is actively pushing for another tax, a five per cent excise duty on telecoms services. Most right-thinking Nigerians, including, interestingly, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, have kicked against it. If a recent news report is to be believed, the finance minister is not backing down. 

If the government is keen on milking the telecom sector, it should at least step up on its behalf and help tackle some of the long-standing issues that have held the sector back. 

The challenges are not new. Many of them have plagued the sector since the liberalization of the industry. Industry experts are quick to point out the fact that these challenges are also opportunities when viewed through the right lenses. 

Here are seven of the most pressing challenges, with what I hope are feasible solutions. The government should give it a look-in if doesn’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. 

Difficulty in accessing long-term funds for the industry – The government must hasten to establish an ICT Bank. While it should be in the mould of the Agricultural Bank, it should operate like a venture capital entity. So, after due diligence, the ICT Bank will invest in tech starting with a clearly stated exit /pull-out date. I propose an initial take-off grant of N200 billion naira only. 

Right of way – The goal of the right of way policies should not be revenue generation but to facilitate the speedy deployment of telecom infrastructure. In the short term, states can take a leaf from Ekiti State which reduced telecom’s right of way charges by 97 per cent. For the long term, states should install road ducts on a build-and-lease basis. The federal government can set an example here by installing ducts on all new federal roads and leasing to operators based on an agreed realistic billing scheduled for usage. 

Multiple taxations – Again, governments at all levels, need to stop seeing telcos as only cash cows. Efforts must be towards proper harmonization of taxes and levies and so make it uniform across every state and locality. This will undoubtedly aid the planning and deployment of services by operators. 

Energy challenge – Yes, the telcos knew that Nigeria had a power problem when they paid for licenses in 2001. But who could have imagined that the issue will persist unresolved, for this long? Currently, the logistics of ensuring round-the-clock availability of power is a nightmare that keeps whole teams awake many a night. A straightforward solution is the establishment of energy parks to serve critical infrastructure. QED! 

Local content – Some progress has been made here, especially through the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP). To move forward the government and other corporations need to host local content locally. As a corollary, Nigeria must urgently adopt the doctrine of data sovereignty.

Multiple regulations – This is another problem that is almost as old as the industry itself. The NCC has done a lot of work here. Nigeria must explore a converged regulatory regime as the way out. 

Capacity building – Human resources have always been an issue but the recent increase if the rate of migration has made it a mini-crisis. The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the NCC have their work cut out for them – bridge the gap between academia and industry via curriculum reform involving the industry and internships.

I’ll be the first to admit that these problems and solutions are not exhaustive. The NCC may want to consider calling a stakeholder forum to deliberate on the problems and proffer solutions. The white paper produced can now be the basis of engagement with the government and its relevant agencies. 

For the government, the focus should not be only on sharing the existing telecom cake, but also on helping the industry bake a bigger cake. 

Elvis Eromosele, a Corporate Communication professional and public affairs analyst lives in Lagos.

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