Indeed, after the 2006 Geneva agreement between the ITU and member
countries, to which Nigeria was a signatory, a June 17, 2015 deadline date was
set and agreed by member nations for switchover from analogue to digital
transmission. The process is expected to help set free from the broadcasters
some spectrum frequencies, otherwise known as digital dividend, which other
sectors, especially the telecommunications industry, can deploy to provide
better services.
Already, because it will not meet the deadline, Nigeria has asked
for an extension by the ITU, with new focus on December 2017 for her to be able
to migrate from analogue to digital transmission.
Digital migration refers to the shift from analog broadcasting to
digital broadcasting, involving many changes in the transmission signals so
that members of the public can buy high definition television sets and dispose
of their standard definition television sets.
Narrating the successful transition process yesterday in Beijing,
China, at the 5th edition of the yearly African Digital TV Development Seminar,
organized by StarTimes, Tanzania’s Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and
Sports, Dr. Fenella Mukangara, said the country started migration in phases from
2009 into 2012 and completed the process on April 30, 2015.
Mukangara said though the process was challenging, “with
government support, massive awareness and sensitization by the agency in
charge, we were able to complete switchover ahead of the June 17, 2015
deadline.” She disclosed that in the process, the government of Tanzania
provided tax reliefs, among other incentives, for the importation of Set- Top-
Boxes (STB), stressing that about one million were sold recently and that the
country currently enjoys about 51digital channels.
Like Mukangara, the Director-General of Communications Authority
of Kenya, Francis Wangusi, said after signing the Geneva agreement of 2006, his
country established a task force which saw it developed an Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) policy that gave meaning to the process of
migration. Wangusi said by August 2015, Kenya should have attained 70 per cent
migration, stressing that only areas without television would be left out.
According to him, the benefits his country enjoys now because of
the migration includes release of digital dividend spectrum for roll-out of
other non-broadcast services, such as mobile broadband in the 694MHz to 800MHz;
improved environmental conservation, because operators now share infrastructure;
quality digital picture with a target to have 40 per cent local content
channels by 2017; creation of business opportunities and employment (content
development; STBs manufacturing) and opportunity for Kenyans to have variety of
channels. Wangusi said the process was, however, not smooth because they had to
contend with some challenges, including litigation, cost of STBs and the slow
roll-out of digital signals. “But we can say we have overcome that now, by
August we should have 70 per cent of Kenya covered digitally.”
In an interview with The Guardian, the President of Startimes,
Xinxing Pang, said countries that failed to meet the June 17 date would
experience signal interference from border nations.
Pang, who said China has achieved migration, described
digitalization as an irresistible trend, stressing that the process is about
clear image on television and more convenient services that appeal to customer.
According to him, China will always be ready to assist countries that are
ready.
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