- DSO: Nigeria to Gain N900bn, Says NBC DG
The Director-General, National Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Kawu Modibbo, on Wednesday said no fewer than $2bn or N900bn would be injected into the Nigerian economy as one of the benefits of the Digital Switch Over.
He explained that the broadcasting industry and the digital economy would grow by about N450bn per annum through increase in advertising, Nollywood income and value added services, adding that it would offer numerous opportunities for jobs in the broadcast industry and other ancillary industries.
According to him, the Federal Government can potentially raise digital dividend of N450bn from the sale of spectrum, thereby ensuring that the whole DSO programme is self-funding.
Modibbo spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, during a media briefing on ‘Digitisation on broadcast media: The place of Nigeria’.
He also said the potential for job creation was immeasurable as over 300, 000 jobs would be created directly within the eco-system and from other ancillary sources connected to the process, noting that this was a major gain of the Nigerian DSO project.
The NBC DG explained that digitisation was the process of conversion of analogue information in any form – images, text, photographs, voice, etc. – to digital form with suitable electronic devices, such as a scanner or specialised computer chips, so that the information could be processed, stored and transmitted through digital circuits, equipment and networks.
Modibbo stated, “Digitisation allows new communicative, journalistic and content consumption, which will force us to reformulate the existing paradigm.
“The digital transition in the broadcast media is in pursuance of the International Telecommunications Union’s recommendations during the Regional Radio Communication Conference of 2006 and the subsequent Geneva 2006 Agreement.
“The RRC-06 established the Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting Plan in the 174-230 MHz (VHF Band III) and 470-862 MHz UHF Band IV and V) bands. However, in Nigeria, the transition to digital terrestrial television will be implemented in the 470-806 MHz band.”
He said a survey conducted by the NBC showed that Nigeria required about 22 million set-top boxes to meet the requirements of reaching analogue television set owners who would transit to digital TV.
