The Federal Government has fixed December 2028 as the deadline for the final transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
The Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission, NBC,
Mr Charles Ebuebu, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of
Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja.
Ebuebu said the December 2028 deadline marks the final
analogue switch-off.
“We put a timeline for analogue switch-off. Before that
time, a lot of things will be put in place. This is just phase one,” he said.
He said subsequent phases would cover paid television
services, studio development and designated production centres for content
creators.
The NBC boss said audience measurement was also progressing,
with a proof of concept completed in about 7,000 homes in Lagos, while
implementation had commenced in Abuja.
According to him, the commission will make the phases public
after consultations with key stakeholders, including the Broadcasting
Organisation of Nigeria, to secure their buy-in.
He said the analogue switch-off would free up valuable
spectrum for other uses, describing it as a strategic national asset.
Ebuebu said the spectrum will be professionally valued
before allocation to users such as telecommunications, application and
financial services companies.
“I won’t put a sum to it, but it is valued upwards of about
50 billion dollars. Consultants will determine its actual value before
allocation,” he said.
On obsolete broadcasting equipment, Ebuebu said the
commission was developing a policy based on expert input and international best
practices.
He said the Digital Switch Over white paper required
broadcasters to separate content production from transmission, with
transmission handled by signal distributors such as NIGCOMSAT.
According to him, obsolete analogue equipment may be
repurposed where possible, while government will be approached to absorb
unusable assets to prevent environmental hazards from industrial waste.
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