AFTER years of delays, missed deadlines and stalled implementation, the Federal Government has said Nigeria is finally set to complete its transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting, with the nationwide Digital Switch Over (DSO) programme scheduled for official unveiling in June.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday, during a facility tour of the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), where top officials inspected infrastructure supporting the digital broadcasting platform.

The minister said the June rollout would mark a turning point in Nigeria’s broadcasting industry, ending years of uncertainty surrounding the migration from analogue television transmission to digital broadcasting.

“The digital switchover is here. Everybody now can watch whatever he wants to watch in real time and cleanly. Free TV everywhere for everybody,” Idris said.

Nigeria’s journey to digital broadcasting dates back over a decade following a directive by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which required member nations to migrate from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting. The transition was expected to improve picture quality, increase channel capacity and free up spectrum space for telecommunications services.

The country, however, struggled to meet earlier deadlines due to funding challenges, infrastructure gaps, policy inconsistencies and setbacks linked to the rollout of set-top boxes and signal distribution systems.

At the tour, Idris said the Tinubu administration had now revived the process through stronger collaboration between the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, NIGCOMSAT and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

According to him, the new digital platform would significantly improve broadcasting standards, advertising systems and audience measurement processes across the country.

“Now science is at play. If you are now viewing any particular station, you know who is viewing what, how many people are viewing,” he said.

The minister explained that the system would provide broadcasters and advertisers with accurate audience data, allowing them to better understand viewer preferences and target programmes more effectively.

He also said the new platform would end monopoly within the television distribution market and encourage healthy competition among broadcasters and content producers.

“Competition is going to set in. Everybody is going to compete. Content is going to grow. Viewership, hopefully, will also grow,” Idris added.

The minister noted that viewers would enjoy clearer television signals in High Definition (HD) format and access channels through mobile applications and satellite-enabled services powered by NIGCOMSAT across Nigeria and parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

He further stated that unlike previous DSO attempts where encrypted set-top boxes increased costs for users, the current model had been structured to make access easier and more affordable.

“Government has already taken off some of these costs,” he said.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT, Jane Egerton-Idehen, said the organisation was focused on ensuring uninterrupted service delivery and long-term sustainability of the technology infrastructure.

“It is important for us that the service delivery is perfect and the technology is continuous,” she said.

She disclosed that government approval had already been secured for the launch of two additional satellites to strengthen Nigeria’s digital communication capabilities.

“The work has only just started. The work has only just begun,” she added.

On his part, Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Dr Charles Ebuebu, said the revamped DSO platform was designed to reflect modern viewing habits and emerging technologies.

According to him, the platform would combine satellite transmission and mobile application technology to expand access beyond the eight cities previously covered under the pilot phase.

“Rather than restricting content to just eight cities, we are all over Nigeria and beyond,” Ebuebu said.

He revealed that the platform is expected to launch with about 100 television channels, while additional content producers are already engaging the commission for inclusion.

“We are going to have 100 channels by the day of launch and even more because there are more content producers that are talking to us,” he said.

Ebuebu also disclosed that the NBC had established six regional studios across the country to support content production and reduce the burden on creators outside major cities.

In addition, he said the commission was setting up a multilingual national call centre capable of assisting viewers in Hausa, Igbo, Pidgin English and other languages.

“We are making it easy. In all, we want to create the market for Nigeria. One platform for Nigeria,” he stated.