radio stations in the country.
The Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Mr.
Emeka Mba, disclosed this during a press conference on Nigeria's
transition from analogue to digital broadcasting in Abuja on
Wednesday.
Mba disclosed that the regulatory agency has proposed an extension of
the country's switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting by 18
months.
He also disclosed that 11 companies have been licensed for the local
manufacture of set-top-boxes after the payment of N550m (N50m each).
Set-top-boxes are antennas that enable analogue television sets to
receive signals from digital transmitters.
Mba said the President approved two community stations for each of the
six geopolitical zones in the country, thereby bringing the number to
12.
A community station can be seen as a radio or television station owned
and operated by a community for the benefit of a community and in the
language understood by the community.
The NBC regards community radio as the third tier of broadcasting
which further democratises the society, by encouraging people to speak
among themselves about issues that concern them.
Community broadcasting has been lingering for some time. The Federal
Government had in 2010 announced its decision to widen the broadcast
space by approving the take-off of community broadcasting in the
country.
Despite the announcement, there had been delays in executing the
policy which had been accepted in principle.
On digital broadcasting, the International Telecommunications Union
had in 2006 set a deadline of June 17, 2015 for countries to switch
off analogue broadcasting in favour of digital broadcasting.
Although the country had earlier set a deadline of June 17, 2012 for
its own switch-off, Mba said the Nigeria actually started preparation
for the switch-off in 2012 and thus the apparent inability to meet the
deadline set by the global body.
Given the proximity of the deadline without enough on ground for the
switchover, Mba said the regulatory agency had proposed extending the
deadline by 18 months.
He, however, added that the commitment to realise the switchover and
the political will to muster the resources required, put at about
N60bn, was with the Federal Government.
Towards a smooth transition, Mba said a number of new licences would
be issued. These include 14 national channels and six regional
channels, all Free-to-Air channels.
It is also considering licensing a new carrier as broadcast stations
in the new era would serve as only content providers which are to take
the services of transmission service operators.
Already, two transmission operators have been licensed to serve as
carriers to content providers. While ITS emerged from the Nigerian
Television Authority, Pinnacle which was licensed by NBC in 2014 had
taken the regulatory agency to court for some clauses on its licence.
Mba said although the deadline of ITU was important, achieving a
successful transition was more important as mismanagement of the
process could kill television and advertising as had happened in some
jurisdictions.
He said, "The commission has introduced a National Common Set-Top-Box
system based on the Inview Middleware Technologies which will provide
a platform for the introduction of Conditional Access, Electronic
Programme Guide and many new value added services, such as interactive
services, interactive advertising, and e-Government services.
"Additional STB peripherals such as Personal Video Recording and Wi-Fi
enabling devices will also be governed under these national standards.
--PUNCH
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