NBC Rules Out Extension Of Deadline For Digital Migration.

SOURCE:Leadership 

With 10 months left for the deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for television stations in Africa to migrate from analogue broadcasting to digital terrestrial television (DTT), the regulatory body, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has said the June 2015 deadline is sacrosanct.

Addressing operators at the Breakfast Session jointly organised by Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) and Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIRAN) in Lagos recently, Mr Emeka Mba, the director-general of the NBC said after the ITU deadline, there would be no more international support for analogue spectrum as any operator still operating on the platform would be technically hedged out.

The ITU secretary general, Dr Hamadoun Toure, recently said that the June 2015 deadline was agreed on by all the 193 members of the organisations, which consists of governments as well as 70 private sector members.

His words: We knew it was doable when we set the migration deadline in 2005. The benefits of the migration exercise to both consumers as well as broadcasters are also enormous.

According to him, the migration exercise would lead to freeing up of about one-third of frequencies which could then be used for the provision of other services.

On the steps taken by the federal government so far to actualise the ITU vision, Mba disclosed that the government had finalised and harmonised discussions over the transmission network parameters with all ECOWAS member states.Stay up to date, follow us on Twitter; @LeadershipNGA