Minister assures key players in UK Digital TV Switch Over Nigeria will succeed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has assured that Nigeria will leave no stone unturned in its quest to achieve a successful Digital TV Switch Over.

The Minister gave the assurance in London at the end of his two-day interaction with key players in the successful UK Digital TV programme.

A statement issued on the event by the Special Adviser to the Minister, Mr Segun Adeyemi was made available to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.

The minister stressed that a successful digital switch over in Nigeria would yield technological dividends far beyond imagination.

According to the statement, the minister met with the UK Communication Regulator, Ofcom, which created the regulatory structures that enabled that country’s Digital TV Switch Over.

The Minister also met officials of leading public service broadcaster, BBC, to understand its central role in supporting the development of Digital TV in the UK.

He reassured that all concerned would work relentlessly to meet the June 2017 deadline for Digital Switch Over (DSO) in Nigeria.

“The Digital Switch Over in the UK spanned about five years (2008 to2012).
“Nigeria has a much shorter time to achieve the same feat, but we will harness all the available expertise to ensure a successful and history-making switch over,” he said.

According to the statement, the minister also visited Digital UK and Freeview to draw lessons from the UK’s DSO programme.

He also learnt about the development of Freeview and the factors which had contributed to its long-running success as the Digital Terrestrial TV service that serves 75 per cent of UK homes.

The minister rounded off his meetings with officials of the UK’s sole signal distributor Arqiva to understand how the UK’s TV infrastructure was developed and operated.

The minister was accompanied by the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, and Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr Mansur Liman.