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Digital switch-over: FG licences 13 firms to manufacture set-top boxes

Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed

Niyi Odebode, Abuja
The Federal Government has licensed 13 companies that will establish digital switch-over set- top boxes manufacturing plants in the country.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, also said three digital distributors had got their licences.

According to him, each of the distributors paid N600m, adding that the inauguration of the pilot scheme of the digital switch-over in Jos on Saturday was a  revolution.
He stated, “Government  has licensed 13 set up boxes manufacturers. They are going to set up set up manufacturing plants in Nigeria.  Government has also licensed three digital distributors and each of these distributors paid N600m.”
According to him, with the switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting, Nigerian firm industry, Nollywood, will bring additional $250m to the economy yearly.
The minister stated that when Nigerians switched over to digital broadcasting in Jos on Saturday television broadcasting in the country was also revolutionised.

“ When we came in about six months ago, a cloud of uncertainty and
confusion hung over Nigeria’s digital transition. There were no set –top boxes, without which the transition could not be kick-started; there was no established signal distributor on ground. There was no software and security devices for protection of the boxes.

“The banks had cancelled the Letters of Credit that were granted for the importation of set-top Boxes and no one could say for sure if indeed we will meet the third deadline of June 2017 to fully switch on digital broadcasting and switched off analogue broadcasting. Investor confidence was waning, and doomsday critics who said Nigeria had no capacity to transit were about to be proven right.”
According to him, the DSO is at the dawn of a new era for government, television channels, producers, and advertisers and, most importantly, the Nigerian TV customer.

The minister explained that television stations would no longer need to worry about signal transmission, thus paying more attention to content.

He added, “For content providers, this is boom time, as the demand for content will skyrocket, thus allowing our youth to give vent to their creativity. For viewers, there will be a harvest of channels.”

“The Jos residents who have already acquired the STBs as part of the pilot roll-out on Saturday are now watching 15 channels without subscription, up from the maximum of five which they were watching before.

“All the 15 channels provide high-resolution pictures and high fidelity sound. When we fully transit to digital, over 30 TV channels will be watched by over 30 million viewers, making Nigeria one of the biggest markets for free to air TV in the world.”

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