The Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Mr. Emeka Mba has said that there are enormous socio-economic benefits inherent in the much expected total digital broadcast migration. According to the NBC boss, the migration will open up the economy through massive employment and the attendant economic activities on the entire value chain. June 17, 2015 is the deadline for digital migration.
“The benefits of the digital migration are awesome. New jobs will be created, diversity of news sources. It will bring more funds into the economy. And for the fact that we will be given up sizeable bunch of very valuable spectrum which will go into increase broadband penetration in the country is also significant”, he said.
Mba stated this at ‘The Digital Broadcast Summit’ held in Lagos on Thursday.
The NBC boss also noted that all hands must be deck for the Nigeria to join the league of nations that would be broadcasting.
He said, “For Nigeria to achieve this there must be funding and industry collaboration because there have been notions in the past that digitization was only government, NBC affairs. It is a global a thing and for us to take advantage we have to come together as an industry”.
Asked his commission’s plan to ensure safe disposal of analogue transmitters, so that they would not constitute e-waste, Mba said, “We have e-waste disposal plan. For instance, in the pilot stage in plateau state, we effectively managed this. We know the hybrid transmitters that will be used and vast majority will not be useful. So they will be taken careful of by the NBC, we have that as part of our budget. It is not left for the broadcasters to bear the cost.NBC will engage company with expertise in disposing these equipment”.
He also clarified the misconceptions that digital migration means that Nigerians need to go and by new TV sets. We have plans that if you want to throw it away there are designated areas you can dispose them at no cost.
We have as plans to soft conditional, activation system. What this means is that because we need to protect investments of set of box manufacturers. Every network box that comes into the country will require an activation, that activation is just an on swithch not a subscription. The box is known to the system.
On the dangers of not migrating to digital on the deadline, Mba said, “On June 17, if we fail to transmit digitally.It does not mean that there will be no television in Nigeria. What it means is that we would have failed on our international obligation to transmit.
“Secondly, our television signals we no longer have protection across our borders. The implication is that if you leave in Lagos and Benin Republic has gone digital and they are transmitting there will be interference.
“There are dangers that the economy and eco system we want to build with digital we will lose it. The youths that will be creating apps and contents will not be there, the new TV stations that will be joining the fray we also be discouraged.
“Lastly, the spectrum we are going to give up for broadband penetration we will lose it. it has certain economic and social implications.
