As Nigeria gradually inch towards the much hyped set deadline for digital
\nswitch over from analogue to the digital mode of signal distribution or
\nDigital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT), a Broadcast Engineer, Media
\nEntrepreneur and Founder of NN24. Tony Dara has warned against use of
\noutdated infrastructure and technology.<\/p>\n
Tony Dara, who also serve as consultant to the House Ad-Hoc committee of
\nthe National Assembly on Nigeria\u2019s digital switch over process, emphasized
\nthat the quality of equipment provided by signal distributors are critical
\nto the success of the digital switch over process.<\/p>\n
The broadcast expert who hinges his observation on the use of obsolete
\nequipment came on the heels of his recent fact finding missions to
\nIntegrated Television Services (ITS) Digital switch over sites in Ilorin,
\nKwara State and Jos, Plateau State.<\/p>\n
Integrated Television Services Limited is a public company under whose
\npurview the technical implementation of the digital switch over is placed.<\/p>\n
Dara, had during his technical mission to Ilorin tried to ascertain the
\nlevel of standards of ITS to switch on to digital signal distribution via
\ndigital terrestrial transmission.<\/p>\n
While in Jos, he also attempted to obtain necessary information and data
\nin order to assess the level of performance and quality of service of the
\ndigital switch on in Plateau State, where Jos was christened as the pilot
\ndigital switch on project.<\/p>\n
In his technical assessment and report, Tony Dara had expressed fears and
\noutright consternation on the whole digital switch on process based on his
\nvisits to the two states of Kwara and Plateau states. According to Dara \u201cI
\nam dismayed that for a pilot project of this nature, ITS installed
\nobsolete transmitters that have been disconnected by the original
\nequipment manufacturer\u201d.<\/p>\n
He was also emphatic and worried over the operational environment of both
\ndigital terrestrial transmission stations in Jos and Ilorin built by ITS.
\nThose DTT stations, according to Dara, \u201care below par they are installed
\nin old buildings that are clearly neither fit for purpose nor appropriate
\nfor digital broadcasting workflow\u201d.<\/p>\n
Further giving insight into the Jos digital switch on pilot project, Dara
\nberated the information from the industry regulator that ITS was to cover
\nthe whole of Plateau State from three sites remain an illusion till date
\nas only Jos city location is functional which only covers parts of Jos
\ncity presently.<\/p>\n
The broadcast expert, Tony Dara further warned the industry operators
\nabout the imminent dangers of ITS installing technology and
\ninfrastructures that are obsolete as this would greatly hamper the Digital
\nSwitch On process, because these obsolete technology and infrastructure
\n\u201cwill not be able to stand the test of time and will not achieve the
\nminimum quality standards required for digital signal distribution\u201d<\/p>\n
He therefore urged the industry regulator to pay optimum attention to some
\nof the observed short comings of the Integrated Television Services
\nLimited, which he had passed on for necessary action and intervention.<\/p>\n
Among the shortcomings as observed by Dara are that \u201cthe NBC put up 30
\nNational free to air content to be distributed by signal distributor in
\neach location.<\/p>\n
Till date ITS has only carried a minimum of 20 plus in Jos, the only site
\nwhere it transmits, Upgrading DVB-T transmitters or converting to DVB-T2
\ntransmitters has limitations will never be able to function with the full
\ncomponent and complements of a custom built DVB-T2 transmitter, thirdly is
\nredundancy is critical in technology and broadcast transmission is not
\nexcluded, ITS DDT stations in Jos and Ilorin do not have sufficient
\nredundancy and therefore prepared for failure, it does not demonstrate the
\nability to understand that lessons from new technologies enable ever
\nimproving engineering designs quality. Having been created from NTA, ITS
\nis expected to have a solid foundation in broadcast engineering and
\npractice.<\/p>\n
ITS is a technical company and must conform with standards in engineering
\nand technology, create environment that is supportive of productivity;
\nenvironment that supports health and safety, and very importantly, since
\nit is owned and funded by all Nigerians should be a leading example in
\nthis new era that we have embraced for broadcasting, With the increase in
\nthe number of channels licensed by NBC, space required for headend and
\ntransmitter equipment increases.<\/p>\n
Starting in old buildings with limited spaces, limits growth of the
\nheadend and lastly the antenna mast and towers are old and legacy
\ninfrastructure of the NTA transmission system, it is not clear however, if
\nthen longevity can be guaranteed considering the fact that maintenance and
\nservice records are not available; and that the digital antennas have
\nheavier pay load and mass\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Dara, \u201cI hope this intervention will help all concerned to
\nsee the clear and present danger of not getting this right from the
\noutset.\u201d, saying, \u201cthe digital era in broadcasting has given Nigeria a
\nmassive chance to leap into the league of\u00a0 global media players as well as
\nchange the narrative and image that Nigerians are underachievers\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Nigeria gradually inch towards the much hyped set deadline for digital switch over from analogue to the digital mode of signal distribution or Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT), a Broadcast…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n