Nigeria Restates Commitment To DSO, Ready For Nationwide Roll-out – Minister

The Federal Government has announced its readiness to roll out the

Digital Switch Over (DSO) in broadcasting in all the six geo-political

zones in the country in the next few weeks, as a practical

demonstration of its commitment to the DSO project.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the

announcement in Quincy, U.S., on Tuesday during a meeting with the

executives of Gates Air, a market leader in transmission solutions for

broadcast network operators.

The Minister said the DSO, which was first launched in Jos in April

2016, is ready to be rolled out in six states across the country –

Kaduna, Kwara, Delta, Enugu, Gombe and Osun – covering the six

geo-political zones.

He said the switch over from analogue to digital television is

”irreversible” because the DSO is a ”game changer” that will bring

immense benefits to Nigerians and help the government to achieve one of

its cardinal goals, which is the diversification of the economy.

Alhaji Mohammed said the meeting with the US company, which is a key

player in the DSO process, further confirms the government’s

commitment to the project, which has also been launched in Abuja.

”The DSO is very important to this Administration, because of the

limitless potentials that it represents. For us as a government, DSO

goes beyond just receiving digital transmission but an avenue to

create jobs and ignite the huge creative potentials of our youths. It

is also a solution to some of the intractable problems affecting the

Creative Industry, including piracy and distribution,” he said.

The Minister, who led a Nigerian team that includes the Chairman of

the House of Representatives’ Committee on DSO, Hon. Sunday Katung, and

the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC),

Malam Ishaq Kawu Modibbo, inspected the facilities at the company’s

sprawling factory, where several equipment meant for the DSO roll-out

are currently being manufactured.

”Seeing some of the equipment being shipped to Nigeria for the DSO

project has reinforced our belief in the ability of Pinnacle

Communications Limited (one of the two signal distributors for the

project) to meet its roll-out targets,” he said.

For his part, the Chairman of the House Committee on DSO said he is in

Quincy, home of the 95-year-old Gates Air, as part of efforts to

ensure that the DSO process goes smoothly.

”We seem to be heading in the right direction, after several misses,

and I can now confidently speak on the project when I return to

Nigeria,” he said, describing Pinnacle Communications Ltd and Gates

Air as reliable partners.

Also speaking, Malam Modibbo assured that the DSO project will be

delivered on a modern platform because of the wonderful partnership

involving the Ministry of Information and Culture, the NBC and the

signal distributors.

The NBC Director-General described as a source of pride the benchmark

set with the Abuja roll-out of the DSO in December 2016.

Welcoming the delegation to his company, the Chief Executive Officer

of Gates Air, Mr. Phil Argyris, assured of the company’s readiness to

work with Nigeria to ensure the success of the DSO project, saying:

”We never let our customers down.”

Other members of the Nigerian team are the Chairman of Digiteam, Mr

Edward Amana, and the Chairman of Pinnacle Communications, Sir Lucky

Omoluwa.