From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Integrated Television Services (ITS) and NTA-Star have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to drive the rollout of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in the country.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the agreement is a game changer in the Government’s efforts to complete the Digital Switch Over before the tenure of the Muhammadu Buhari administration ends.
Mohammed also said the MoU, which is in line with the Government White Paper on the transition from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting in Nigeria, laid the foundation for a working relationship between the two entities to drive the rollout of the DSO in the country.
“Let me commend the efforts of both ITS and NTA-Star, the National Broadcasting Commission, as well as the Ministerial Task Force on DSO for successfully midwifing this MoU.
“Despite the huge challenges we have faced on DSO since the pilot launch in Jos, Plateau State, 30 April 2016, we have managed to roll out in six other states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The states are Kwara, Kaduna, Enugu, Osun, Lagos and Kano states.
“The MoU that has just been signed will fastrack our rollout and take the DSO to a higher pedestal. That’s why I described it as a game changer. With this MoU, ITS will utilise the structures and facilities of NTA-Star, a terrestrial pay-TV platform, spread across the country, for signal distribution. In other words, ITS will henceforth become the signal distributor on the structure of NTA-Star. In essence, the signing of this MoU has given effect to the Whitepaper on the DSO, which bars terrestrial pay-TV from self-carriage in Nigeria,” Mohammed said.
The Minister further said at the moment, NTA-Star has over 70 transmission sites spread across 35 states and the FCT, thereby effectively covering a large portion of this country with their signals.
“We will strive to cover at least 70 per cent of the country with Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) signal and then deploy Direct To Home (DTH) to provide 30 per cent signal to areas in difficult terrains such as riverine and mountainous areas.
“Also, henceforth, the Set Up Boxes (decoders) of NTA-Star will have multiple encryptions, which will enable viewers to enjoy Freeview content alongside paid content. This MoU will open the floodgates for channels to be licensed by NBC, thereby creating jobs and enhancing the television experience with quality and compelling content.
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“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me remind us all that the decision to transition from analogue to digital television followed a treaty that was signed at the Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC-06) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 16, 2006, to usher in ‘all-digital’ terrestrial broadcast services for sound and television. This is aimed at creating a more equitable, just and people-centred Information Society, which would connect underserved populations and remote communities, thereby bridging the digital divide,” Mohammed stated.
Mohammed listed the key benefits of digital television broadcasting to include wider choice in TV and radio channels; improved picture, e.g. HD, UHD and High-Fidelity sound; greater flexibility with the potential for portable and mobile reception; enhanced information services including Electronic Programming; guide or enhanced ‘teletext’ services (with enhanced graphics); potential for interactivity; and increased market competition and innovation.
“Additionally, the DSO process can enable a variety of competing service offers, improve digital service coverage even in remote places, and improve access to communication networks while acting as a catalyst for better management of spectrum resources. Due to bandwidth restrictions, analogue television only offers a small selection of programs and is therefore outmoded. The same transmission channel used to broadcast a single analogue program can carry a multiplex of up to 20 digital programmes of better quality. Thus, the DSO television platform, branded as FreeTV, provides users with over 60 digital channels, ranging from sports and music to movies and the latest headlines. Both DTT and DTH transmissions of FreeTV are readily available throughout the country.
“In addition to the broadcast services, FreeTV offers Value Added Services such as:
i) Enforcement & Collection of TV Licenses;
ii) Premium PayTV channels
iii) Push Video on Demand
iv) Information Services, and
v) Audience Measurement.
“We are also in the process of putting in place a world-class audience measurement regime to address the problem of under-investment in the sector, which is necessary to foster the growth of the industry, as the advertising community continues to rely on subjective factors when making decisions on the content they want, as opposed to how many viewers the content truly attracts,” Mohammed also said.
Earlier, the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, said the event marked the solidifying of the foundation of the delivery of Nigeria to a life-changing experience of digital broadcasting with the potency of boosting the nation’s economy.
“The project holds lots of promises for our industry and its key players particularly creative minds in the areas of content production and distribution.
“Efforts to deliver Nigeria to digital broadcasting began since 2006, but we consecutively missed three deadlines of 2012, 2015 and 2017 respectively. Today, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, we have found an antidote to our challenge of having a simultaneous national rollout with at least 70 per cent signal penetration and coverage of Nigeria’s territorial boundaries,” Ilelah said.
Ilelah also said after signing the MoU, the government expect the two parties to work assiduously to build the requisite broadcast infrastructure that ensures a seamless digital switch over across Nigeria through Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).
“They will also introduce and adopt a Simulcrypt technique to integrate Free TV contents and NTA-Star contents (Pay TV) using DTT equipment across Nigeria.
“By this, we are expecting to transit the over 30 million TV households in Nigeria to digital broadcasting. More significantly, we expect Nigeria to within a couple of months, switch-off analogue transmission in states already switched on and begin to harness the full potential of a digital economy.
“It is important to emphasise that, NBC has in line with the provision of the DSO White Paper worked towards the separation of the function of the Broadcast Signal Distributor from that of the Broadcast Content Provider.
“Henceforth, therefore, it is the responsibility of ITS to carry NTA-Star TV Pay TV content on its digital DTT platform. The Commission awaits other pay DTT operators to follow suit,” the NBC DG stated.