Lagos – Mr Emeka Mba, the Director- General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), on Monday said that appropriate regulatory structure was crucial for switching broadcast services from analogue to digital system.
Mba made the observation in a statement obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that digital, by its nature, was disruptive hence, would disrupt the way television was being done, and the way people interact with television.
According to him, it means that the present rules and regulations, as applied, will need to also undergo some changes, to make them more suitable in the new era.
“Therefore, the need to have appropriate regulatory structure in place ahead of the digital switchover is very crucial.
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“We have begun an early review of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
“We shall embark on securing necessary legislative backing, to accommodate the anticipated changes in the digital era. We are very confident of success,” Mba said.
He commended the Federal Government for providing an enabling environment for the commission to thrive, and its support for the success of the Digital Switch Over (DSO).
NAN reports that Nigeria and most of the African countries failed to meet the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) DSO deadline of June 17, 2015.
NBC said that the ITU deadline was not met due to lack of fund and myriads of challenges, which included aggregate content development, distribution and production and availability of Set Top Boxes (STBs).
However, West African countries came together and agreed on a new deadline of June 20, 2017 to complete the DSO and achieve analogue switch off. (NAN)
