Fed Govt to deploy NTA’s over 70 transmission sites for digital switchover, says minister

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

The Federal Government will soon deploy the Nigerian Television Authority’s (NTA) over 70 transmission sites for the country’s digital broadcasting switchover, according to Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed.

Yesterday, Mohammed spoke at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on signal transmission between Integrated Television Services (ITS) and Star Times.

After numerous failed attempts, the minister stated that the MoU would expedite the digital rollout.

“The MoU that was just signed will accelerate our rollout and elevate the digital switchover (DSO) to a higher pedestal,” he said. That’s why I called it a game changer.

“With this MoU, ITS will use the structures and facilities of NTA-Star, a nationwide terrestrial pay TV platform, for signal distribution.” In other words, ITS will now be the signal distributor on the NTA-Star TV structure.

“In essence, the signing of this MoU has given effect to the White Paper on the DSO, which prohibits self-carriage of terrestrial pay TV in Nigeria.”

“At the moment, NTA-Star operates over 70 transmission sites across 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), effectively covering a large portion of the country with their signals.”

“We will strive to cover at least 70% of the country with DTT signal and then deploy Direct To Home (DTH) to provide 30% signal to areas in difficult terrains, such as riverine and mountainous areas.”

“From now on, NTA-Star Set-Up Boxes (decoders) will have multiple encryptions, allowing viewers to enjoy Free View content alongside paid content,” Mohammed added. This agreement will pave the way for channels to be licensed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), creating jobs and improving television viewing experiences with high-quality and compelling content.”

Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, Director General of NBC, stated that the commission would be releasing a preliminary timetable for the country’s transition away from analogue broadcasting.

The NBC president also stated that the commission would conduct extensive public relations in the coming week.

“I am pleased to inform the minister that with the signing of this MoU, NBC will, within a week, begin a vigorous and comprehensive publicity plan for DSO that will cover the nooks and crannies of the country in various languages,” Ilelah said.

“Within the next week, NBC will also meet with all stakeholders to develop a tentative timetable for switch-off.”

“We expect the two parties to work diligently after signing this MoU to construct the necessary broadcast infrastructure to ensure a seamless digital switchover across Nigeria via Digital Terrestrial Television” (DTT).

“They will also introduce and implement a simulcrypt technique to integrate Free TV content and NTA-Star content (Pay TV) across Nigeria using DTT equipment.”

“By doing so, we hope to transition Nigeria’s over 30 million TV households to digital broadcasting.” More importantly, we expect Nigeria to turn off analogue transmission in states that are already on and begin to realize the full potential of a digital economy within the next few months.

“It is important to note that the NBC has worked to separate the functions of the Broadcast Signal Distributor and the Broadcast Content Provider in accordance with the provisions of the DSO White Paper.”

“Therefore, it is ITS’s responsibility to carry NTA-Star TV Pay TV content on its digital DTT platform going forward.” The commission is hoping that other pay DTT operators will follow suit.”