Nigeria To Begin Digital Broadcasting In May – FG

The Federal Government on Thursday said that the first phase of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) from analogue broadcasting would begin in May, 2021.

The government said this in its preparation for the commencement of phase two of the DSO roll out. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had held consultative meetings with stakeholders and discussed the state of preparedness, challenges and proposed timeline

The NBC’s acting Director-General, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, disclosed this in Abuja during a joint press conference with the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed, to announce the timetable for the Nigeria DSO.

Idachaba said, “Phase two of the Nigeria DSO will commence with roll out in the most populous and commercially viable locations of Lagos, Kano and Rivers states, as well as Yobe and Gombe states. This departure from the initial roll out plan of six locations from each geopolitical zone was necessitated by the need to evolve a self-sustaining strategy for the DSO.

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“The new timetable will, therefore, be kick started with roll out in Lagos State on 29th of April 2021; Kano State on 3rd June 2021; and Rivers State on 8th July, 2021. On the heels of these states will be Yobe State on July 15 2021 and Gombe State on August 12 2021.

“The first Analogue Switch Off is therefore slated to take place on May 28 2021 in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. The remaining phase one states of Plateau, Kaduna, Kwara, Enugu and Osun will follow in June, August and September 2021.

“What this means is that effective from the date of analogue switch off, television broadcast can only be received with the DSO approved set top boxes.”

On his part, Lai Mohammed clarified some issues on the rollout/switch off process, saying that before embarking on the analogues switch off in any state, the government will ensure that the Digital Terrestrial Television signal had cover 70 percent of the population in that state, while the 30 percent left will be covered by Direct-To-Home satellite signal.