2015 Digital Switchover: 90% Nigeria’s TV Sets Will Miss Signals: 2015 Digital Switchover: 90% Nigeria’s TV Sets Will Miss Signals Chima Akwaja — March 18, 2014 Nigeria is set to miss the June 2015 digital television switchover deadline approved by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the federal government has not put into place the necessary infrastructure needed for seamless digital broadcasting migration. Speaking at a workshop organised for members of the National Assembly by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last weekend in Lagos, the former acting executive vice chairman, NCC, Mr Stephen Bello, said for government was yet to facilitate local manufacture or massive importation of set-top boxes which would enable the present analogue TV sets to receive digital signals if there was a switch over in 2015. Bello said, “Digital broadcasting is coming upstream, but the 2015 target for switchover to digital television is not achievable. Transmitting stations may be able to broadcast digital TV signals, but 90 per cent of television sets will not be able to receive the signals.” Earlier this year at a forum held in Abuja, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which is charged with ensuring a smooth transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting, complained that it lacked the financial wherewithal to meet the deadline despite broadcasting being the most developed aspect of telecommunications in terms of availability, cost and reliability. The ex-NCC boss called for a review of information and communications technology (ICT) enabling laws which give many parastatals legal authority to regulate the industry. “Many of these enabling laws are due for review in order to incorporate new technical development and services. ICT is a fast changing industry, hence enabling acts governing ICT should be reviewed every 10-15 years. “The dividing line between ICT services is getting more blurry year by year. The review of enabling acts and mergers will help to address the convergence issue. Nigeria has over 800 parastatals with many agencies having both conflicting and overlapping functions, including ICT parastatals. There is need to streamline the acts with a view to resolving conflicting functions and eliminating overlapping functions. Also, the managing director, MainOne Cable Company, Ms Funke Opeke, called for enabling environment and laws to fast-track investments needed for the development of the telecom sector. Nigeria’s low broadband penetration rate is currently estimated at between four and six per cent. Broadband utilisation has grown tremendously in recent years as internet users have leaped from 200,000 users in 2000, to over 55 million in 2010, estimated at about 32 per cent of population. “However commendable this growth is, we must note that this is predominantly narrowband; broadband users are believed to be circa 11 million of Nigeria’s estimated population of 167 million. Developmental broadband depends heavily on availability and investment in infrastructure. Unfortunately, investment in this area has been grossly insufficient, largely attributed to the absence of a comprehensive policy to facilitate such (up until 2013), excessive taxation, high costs of obtaining permits, and lack of stable power to subsidise affordable delivery. Stay up to date, follow us on Twitter; @LeadershipNGA « Previous Article Jabu, Where Reservoir Water Is Preferred To Borehole Original link Read More elotitv/easyblog/entry/2015-digital-switchover-90-nigeria-s-tv-sets-will-miss-signals (y) ✍comment ☏share
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:20:03 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015