The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed revealed yesterday in Abuja that the Federal Government has generated N1.8bn from the digital broadcasting switch over programme.
Speaking at a press briefing, Alhaji Mohammed said the switchover when complete, would generate more revenue for the country.
He emphasized that the Digital Switch Over (DSO) will revolutionize the country’s scope of broadcast media industry.
He said with the commencement of the pilot scheme in Jos last Saturday, the country hoped to meet the June 17, 2017 global deadline, after failing to meet the 2012 and 2015 deadlines.
“We do not have a choice than to meet the deadline of 2017, all ECOWAS countries are going through the same stand. Digitization is a public private sector driven initiative; it is a democratization of entire television station broadcasting.”
Speaking on the recent developments, he said three firms have been licensed for signal distribution. “We have licensed Digital Signal Distributors and three of these distributors have paid in as much as N600 million for just being licensed and more are coming. We have licensed also, 13 set up box manufacturer companies and four have already established their manufacturing plants in Nigeria already in Calabar and Port Harcourt.”
Expounding the benefits of DSO, the minister said: “This is a landmark achievement that will no doubt create employment opportunity to Nigerian youth; this will create massive employment and also ensure the transfer of technology to our people.
“Also, due to availability of many channels, there will be an astronomical increase in the need for content, and this will fire the creative ability of our youths. And this with high quality sound and high resolution picture, which are equal, if not superior to any in the world. I am using this medium to call on the local and state government to support the DSO. This project would make more money for the government because 13 companies will manufacture 30 million set boxes with an exponential effect on the economy because we would have technicians to fix, electricians, content creators with availability of many channels.”
“The transition will also be a catalyst for retailers and installers to emerge all over the country, with a massive impact on the local economy”. The Minister therefore called on broadcasters in the country to invest in developing compelling content to attract viewers and advertisers. He also assured Nigerians that the Federal Government will not relent in its effort to ensure that the country meet the June 2017 deadline of DSO.
