Countdown to digital switch over: Not yet Uhuru for Africa’s sleeping giant

Countdown to the national and global migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, Nigeria is still at its teething stage with many mechanisms that will ensure a seamless switch over yet to be put in place, writes CHUKWUDI OBI.

With roughly two months to national deadline and eight months to global switch off, it is evident that work is being done especially on the part of government and regulatory agencies, but how much effort, commitment and political will that these officials have put in to ensure that Nigeria’s switch over becomes a reality leaves much to be desired.

Jos is the only state that has switched over to digital broadcasting and with the national deadline approaching, indications are rife that though Nigeria is on the right course, the snail speed at which results are achieved leaves a sour taste in the much.

“We have switched off all analogue stations in Plateau State and have commenced digital with TV stations like NTA, AIT and others whom NBC had given digital services so as to produce digital programmes”, Director General, Nigeria Broadcast Commission, Mr Emeka Mba said of the situation in Plateau state which was used as a pilot study.

Flashback to 2006 when United Nation’s International Telecommunicaton Union,(ITU), at the end of its Regional Radio-communication Conference (RRC-06) in Geneva, Switzerland, proposed a treaty for digital terrestrial broadcast services for sound and television. In that conference, ITU member countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran appended their signatures agreeing to join the global migration of broadcast signals from analogue to digital by June 17, 2015.

“The digitalisation of broadcasting in Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Islamic Republic of Iran by 2015 represents a major landmark towards establishing a more equitable, just and people-centred information society,” head, broadcasting services division of ITU-R Mr. Pham Nhu Hai said, emphasizing the importance of the switch over.

For countries who don’t switch over by June 2015, indications are that they stand a chance of being flooded with information during transmission and missing out on the huge potentials in digital broadcasting experts say.

To make sure broadcasters in Nigeria toll the line, apex regulatory body, Nigeria Broadcasting Commission, NBC, set a June 17, 2012 target. This deadline was further reviewed to January, 2015 confirming insinuations by critics that the federal government, NBC, and broadcasters were unprepared for the digital switch over.

“I think Nigeria has a lot of challenges and I think they have the power to overcome the challenges”, Jean-Pierre Kabanda, Vice President, business development, Sub-Saharan Africa of SES, a global satellite operator, said.

Nigeria needs an estimated 25 to 40 million set top boxes for 25 to 40 million households with analogue television sets to ensure that at least 80 per cent of the population switches over to the digital terrestrial platform.

“The necessity for the set top boxes is because we want all the people who own analogue television not to throw them away. They are still useful but with a set top box, the existing analogue TV receivers will be able to receive the digital signal”, Chairman Nigeria’s digital transition committee (DigiTeam), Eddy Amana told Africa Telecom & IT, stressing the role of set top boxes in the digital migration process.

Though 21st century television sets come with in-built digital signal receptors, legislation, funds to procure the set top boxes apart from well articulated disposal strategy are some of the issues boggling the minds of concerned stakeholders.

“We were able to lobby the other West African countries to accept the same standards as Nigeria is using. So we have common standards now for ECOWAS, which will eventually create a larger market both for transmission equipment and set top boxes. Also the government has approved one of the recommendations that set top boxes should be manufactured in Nigeria. The implication of this is that with certain incentives, the cost of the boxes will be lower, and in manufacturing in Nigeria, that will also create jobs for Nigerian technicians and engineers. Down the line, Nigerian marketers are going to distribute these STBs (set top boxes) and then some people at the other end of it in fact the retailers; you have individuals who will help in installation. It is a value-chain, creating jobs for the young people in the society”, Amana said.

NBC’s Emeka Mba has been vocal about the Commission’s need for “billions” to implement the project. In fact, he was specific when he said that FG would require $60 billion to execute the switch over project. The said money, Mba explained, would be expended by government and broadcast stations in the course of switching over.

“Our checks indicate that the United States of America spent more than $1.6 billion to convert from analogue to digital, Britain £1 billion pounds while France expended €2 billion Euro, but we would apply three different options based on the data from the Bureau of Statistics. We also would need about 40 million set top boxes which of course would be assembled here in Nigeria,” he said.

Elsewhere, countries are working round the clock, switching off and switching over to digital broadcasting. Finland switched over on September 1, 2007, United States of America in June 12 2009, Malta and France on October 31 and November 31, 2011 respectively.

One area that many experts have said holds the key to fast tracking national migration is a strategic legal framework like United States of America’s Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 20005 which ensured that full analogue broadcasting came to a stop after February 17, 2009. Still on the US case study, the same act established a government sponsored DTV converter Box Coupon Programme. The US Congress, it was reported forced the switch over date to be realised though President Barack Obama had sent in a request for it to be extended. It is also on record that the US government actually provided billions of dollars in funding to help homes with $40 coupons as a means of assisting them procure or replace existing receptor equipment.

In the case of Nigeria, though there is no legislation on national digital migration, government through local content policies has ensured that the manufacture, installation and eventual disposal of the set top boxes would be undertaken by local companies.

“As part of our roadmap, we have what we call the e-waste disposal plan. We know hybrid transmitters that can be used, we know that a lot of them cannot be used, so we don’t leave it for the operators. The NBC will engage a company that has expertise to dismantle the transmitters and dispose of them efficiently. We do have that as part of our plan”, NBC DG said.

NBC in this line says it is working closely with the National Assembly to amend relevant laws of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and that of NBC, which will enhance a hitch-free digital switch over. The amendment, Mba said will cover relevant sections of the Acts of both government owned organisations that affect digital contents streaming.

“In fact we had since commenced digital television streaming in Nigeria with StarTimes, GoTv, DSTv, and MyTv”, Mba noted.

There have been accusations and counter accusations that some state governments are still purchasing analogue broadcast equipment, a development many see as an impediment to Nigeria migrating to digital broadcasting soon. Also, many private broadcast stations are yet to transit to digital broadcasting, casting doubts over reality of the deadline.

Though the state governments and the private broadcast stations have not hidden their need for additional capital to fund the digital migration project, NBC reassured that mechanisms are still being put in place adding that majority of Nigerian households will have access to digital broadcast signals before the nation switches off permanently.

“Even if everything were to be in place as we hope, switch off will not happen until we are sure there is near penetration of digital broadcasting to the current analogue system. 80 per cent of homes will get the digital set top boxes before we switch off permanently”, Mr Mba said at a forum in Lagos.

There are growing concerns and apprehension that only Plateau state has switched over with less than a year to global switch off leaving other states in the cold.

But the DG NBC in what many stakeholders have called an appalling move said there is no cause for alarm even if Nigeria does not meet the deadline. He stated thus: “The heavens will not fall if Nigeria fails to meet the deadline. Yes there are implications like signal interference, missing out on new business opportunities that may spring up due to digitization and the country not being able to compete strongly in the global digital arena, but we will still move on”.

Industry watchers who have criticised the snail speed at which Nigeria’s federal government and her regulatory agency are executing the digital migration guidelines are of the view that a robust investment package from the federal government to the Organised Private Sector, OPS, will stimulate the industry and drive competition to help reap the dividends of the switch over.  

On the flipside, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Nigeria beats the deadline and also opens up the market for more healthy competition.

“It is an aggressive deadline. If we do the conventional digital terrestrial transmission, then there is no way we are going to make it”, Chief Technology Officer, CWG Plc, Mr James Agada said.

“However, if we use a platform like SES is offering, then we can make it. The only trick is how we will give everybody decoders. As much as we will make the decoders cheap, we cannot give it for free. But it is possible for government to subsidize them”, Agada continued, explaining CWG’s committed effort to help Nigeria beat both the national and global deadlines.

“We are here to help Nigeria solve those challenges. I spoke about 100 per cent coverage of the territory. To cover100 per cent Nigerians via terrestrial will be difficult, so satellite from day one will give you that 100 per cent coverage. Even in the most rural areas, they will be able to access the signal and it may not be necessarily linked to a terrestrial infrastructure. So we are complimenting the terrestrial infrastructure and we hope that together with the terrestrial operators we can help Nigeria beat the deadline”, SES’s Kabanda said shedding more light on the alternative platforms available for Nigeria to ensure a successful switch over.

Some of the expected gains of digital broadcasting include content creation, digital TV platform capable of showing High Definition (HD) pictures and a larger number of TV stations.

“The potentials are quite enormous. We are looking at a situation where we will become curators of content in the sense that we go and search for convincing content creators to use our platform. So even if you are not one before, you can create one. The average Nigerian should expect a digital TV platform that is capable of showing HD pictures which is much clearer, which has a larger number of stations. This means that you can be in Lagos and watch Imo state TV”, Mr Agada said on some of the positive gains of the proposed digital switch over.

More funds in advertising and a more robust economy are some of the gains Mr. Kabanda listed as the benefits of the digital migration, emphasizing that, “There is statistics that says that in Nigeria there are 25 to 40 million TV households and many of them are still analog. So there is quite a big opportunity to migrate those households to digital and other different infrastructure like terrestrial and satellite. We believe that in the next five years, there will be a tremendous growth in Nigeria because the space that was occupied by only one TV channel will have the possibility to transmit 15 to 20 channels. This means that there is going to be a lot more production, advertising and there is going to be a lot more people involved in the sector. This is also means that it will contribute a lot to the Nigerian economy”, he said.  

ITU-R’s Pham Nhu Hai however adds that “the digital switch over will leapfrog existing technologies to connect the unconnected in underserved and remote communities and close the digital divide”.

It is also expected that after the switch over, there will be faster rate of data transmission, consistency in data flows, and spectrum efficiency apart from a larger bouquet of television and radio channels.

It is instructive to note that the both the FG and the NBC ought to  show more commitment, and political will to ensure that Nigeria’s 160 million people join the world to switch over in a seamless and hassle free process.  

photo credit : www.idfi.ge

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