When NBC’s digital migration drive got presidential nod

President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent statement at the 35th anniversary of the Silverbird Group in Lagos has given impetus to NBC’s digital switch-over drive, writes CHUKS OLUIGBO

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), undaunted by Nigeria’s failure to meet the June 17, 2015 deadline for migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, technically called digital switch-over (DSO), is working assiduously to meet the new June 2017 deadline.

A successful switchover to digital broadcasting is expected to free up requisite frequency spectrum under the control of the NBC, which the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) can then clean up and reallocate to deserving operators for the deployment of efficient and affordable broadband services. It is also capable of not only transforming television and broadcasting in general but also helping to bridge the digital divide, create jobs and grow the national economy.

Nigeria had in 2006 in Geneva signed to join other International Telecommunication Union (ITU) member countries for a global switch-over by June 17, 2015 but could not meet the deadline owing to myriads of problems which bordered on the failure of successive governments in Nigeria to empower the commission. For instance, it was learnt that as at the June 2015 deadline, the Federal Government was yet to release to the NBC the N60 billion long earmarked as the cost of the digital switch-over (DSO) process in the country. As a result, the appropriate infrastructure and financial resources to aid to the migration process were not available.

About a month to the June deadline, Emeka Mba, director-general of the NBC, had revealed that three years into the digitisation process, there was zero allocation from the government amid myriads of other challenges, including aggregate content development, distribution and production, as well as unavailability of Set Top Boxes (STBs). STBs are the equivalent of the Dstv decoder that TV sets would use to convert the digital signals for viewing. Once the switchover is made, all TV users would need the STBs to enable them view the digital signals, and it is important that they are readily available for purchase.

But even though Nigeria and most African countries failed to meet the ITU digital switch-over deadline, the ECOWAS region had set a new date of June 20, 2017, Mba explained in a presentation at the 6th edition of the annual NigeriaCom, an ICT event organised by Informa Telecoms and Media in Lagos. It is against the backdrop of this that the commission is leaving no stone unturned in its attempt to meet the new deadline.

Thankfully, the ugly narrative of government apathy to the digital switch-over project is beginning to change as the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has promised to “provide the necessary environment to unleash the latent energy of the key media and entertainment industry”, thereby giving fillip to the NBC’s digital migration drive.

In an address at the Silverbird Group’s 35th anniversary celebration in Lagos recently, President Buhari, who was represented by Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, said as part of providing this requisite environment, his administration would ensure a strict adherence to the plan to reach 100 percent digital TV penetration in Nigeria by 2016, up from 49 percent at the end of 2013. He therefore pledged his administration’s commitment to building a vibrant TV and media economy for the benefit of all Nigerians, saying Nigeria intends to use the digital switch-over as an opportunity to diversify the provision of channels and content.

“Sub-Saharan Africa will have 46.46 million primary Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) homes by 2020, that is 37.6 million Free-to-Air and 8.86 million pay TV, up from 9.27 million at the end of 2013 and 0.53 million at the end of 2010. Nigeria will be the largest DTT nation in Africa in 2020, both for Free-to-Air – that is 9.07 million – and for pay, that is 3.59 million. The target markets for Free-to-Air are the 26-million-plus TV households, and the growth of DTT in Nigeria is accelerating much faster than the growth in the pay-TV market,” said the president.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria shall, by using the digital switch-over, replicate in Nigeria the globally successful Free-to-Air model, to open up the market to mass numbers of potential viewers. Analogue TV content is relatively weak; and the pay DTT platforms offer a few new digital-only Nigerian channels, primarily in entertainment. The switch-over to digital will drastically change the competitive landscape in the media and entertainment in Nigeria, so that traditional media companies are no longer just competing with each other, but also with companies like Google, Microsoft, Telefónica and even Red Bull or Coca Cola,” the president further said.

These are indeed encouraging words for the NBC which had, long before the recent presidential nod, made commendable efforts in this direction. Only in September this year, Mba had hinted that the commission had restored the hope of internally generated funding as it licensed MTN Nigeria to operate on spectrum frequency in the 700MHz bands, realising N34 billion from the sale.

“We are working hard to meet this deadline. The licensing will afford Nigerians the best option for the provision of high quality converged broadcasting and telecommunications services. It will also enable the funding for a successful digital switch-over, which would free up more spectrum for sale,” Mba explained at the NigeriaCom forum, adding that the commission had already licensed 13 companies that would manufacture the STBs locally.

In June last year, the NBC successfully launched the pilot city digital switchover (DSO) in Jos, Plateau State. It rode on the backbone of NTA StarTimes, having designated NTA as the national digital signal carrier for the country. Following the success attained in the Jos pilot DSO, the NBC had drawn a phased rollout plan and is working hard to complete other phases on or before June 2017, given adequate funding.

Only last month in Lagos, the NBC director general witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between KAON, a South Korean Corp, and a local investor, Media Concept International (MCI), for the unveiling of a $1 billion STBs production factory in Lagos. The factory, according to the investors, would start production of boxes early next year ahead of 2017 deadline. Twelve other companies are expected to begin the manufacturing of STBs soon.

Babatope Agbeyo, chairman/CEO of MCI, said part of the technical agreement with KAON as a technical partner was to establish a set-top box assembly plant in Nigeria, adding, “The plant will create about 1000 jobs in the country and foster technology transfer between MCI and KAON as it have the capacity to manufacture mobile phones, tablets and television sets.”

A survey carried out by the NBC showed that 26 million of the over 37.3 million households in Nigeria had television sets. Of the 26 million homes that have television sets, only 4 million have digital televisions, leaving over 22 million on the analogue platform. The NBC has also projected that Nigeria would need over 30 million STBs in the next two years to attain the digital switchover.

“We see a digital future driven by set-top boxes that can give digital channels, internet access and enhance digital lifestyle and shorten the digital divide in Nigeria. We believe this is the future which requires bold steps. Local investors like MCI are making investments that will create technology transfer, and that will permeate through television to bring job creation and economic growth,” Mba said.

“We are creating a value chain and fundamentally, we believe that TV should be free even though Pay TV is important. We believe in Free-To-Air, so we are trying to create an ecosystem that adds value to the consumer. NBC is creating a future that will bridge the digital divide, especially in homes that see TV as a primary source of information and a successful DSO will do just that and that is why we are passionate about the migration,” he added.

CHUKS OLUIGBO