The success recorded at the launch of Nigeria’s digital switch
over in Jos and Abuja seems to be on the decline as subscribers
have continued to register their displeasure over the procurement
of substandard equipment.
Sources from Ilorin the capital city of Kwara State squealed that
obsolete equipment may have been used for the on-going
installations in Kwara and Osun States.
This to a large extent has affected the much publicized multi
channel free television which was hitherto bandied as one of the
dividend of democracy of the current administration.
For instance, subscribers in Jos complained of the epileptic digital
switch on which initially delivered 15 channels but were later
reduced to nine. They added that a year after the Jos digital was
launched; the remaining parts of Plateau remained unattended to.
Although subscribers in the federal capital city are enjoying 30
free television channels, experts argued that the black spots must
be attended to so as to sustain the tempo.
Stakeholders in the industry are taken aback with the snail speed
at which the analogue to digital in the FCT and Jos is being
handled and have continued to wonder when the National
Broadcasting Commission (NBC) will fully switch off analogue in
Jos and the FCT.
An expert who does not want his name mentioned stated that to
think that Plateau State and the FCT are just but microcosms of
Nigeria brings out the thought of what will happen to the rest of
Nigeria.
NBC is by law empowered to regulate the industry and
ensure that Nigerians are not shortchanged in the process.
He added that the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
NBC and DigiTeam must wake up to their responsibility of
ensuring that the equipment installed by the signal distributors is
standard and comply with the engineering specifications set by
the DSO.
He stressed that all the equipment installed for which
Nigerians are expected to invest in STBs must be durable and
quality equipment.
He implored NBC, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and
Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) to ensure that whatever
equipment is imported, installed and deployed in the process are
not to pull the wool over the eyes of the teeming viewing public.
“Nigerians deserve to watch uninterrupted free TV once they
acquire the STB, All installation sites must be painstakingly
supervised so that equipment that are obsolete are not smuggled
into the country for this process” He sounded with a note of
finality.