NBC, NCC collaborates to ensure hitch-free broadcast Digital Switch-Over

National Broadcasting Commission, (NBC) and the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, are collaborating to ensure a seamless broadcast Digital Switch-Over (DSO) in Nigeria.

This was disclosed at a joint press conference by NBC and NCC in Abuja.

The Director General of the NBC, Charles Ebuebu, who spoke at the conference, announced that the collaboration is indicative of the strategic unified effort to ensure the success of the project.

Ebuebu revealed that a grant was approved by the President to drive technological advancement, economic growth, and cultural enrichment through the DSO project.

Director General of the NBC said, “This intervention is a testament to the visionary leadership of the President. It is a commitment to achieving a future where every Nigerian, regardless of their location, has access to superior broadband services and is included in the digital economy. The funds allotted to this project will be meticulously expended to ensure that each component of the DSO Eco-system contributes significantly to the realization of impactful digital dividends for our country. To accelerate this process, the Commission is in collaboration with the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).”

He emphasized that the DSO project is a catalyst for Nigeria’s media and socio-economic transformation, explaing that it will also stimulate significant job creation, drive economic growth, and expand the industry.

“As we stand at this pivotal moment in Nigeria’s broadcasting evolution, it is clear that the Digital Switchover (DSO) represents more than just a technological shift—it is a transformative journey for our media industry and our nation as a whole. Our commitment to this project reflects our dedication to a more inclusive, technologically advanced, and globally competitive media landscape,” he said.

The NBC Director assured that an awareness campaign would be carried out, in order to ensure that every one comes to the knowledge of the DSOs enabling regulations to accelerate growth in that sector.

“That’s what we are both collaborating to do here. It’s a converged world right now. We encourage people to adopt new systems, new digital platform, because the ecosystem is huge. We are going with an approach that covers the entire nation all at once, at far less a cost. There was also the fact that there was no nationwide publicity and promotion of the DSO. But we are going to be massively in everybody’s face, telling them about the dividends of the DSO, what it brings to bear,” DG NBC added.

According to the NBC boss, content Production Studios will be established  across geopolitical zones in partnership with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), as well as FreeTV APP, developing a user-friendly mobile application that allows viewers to watch FreeTV on handheld devices and access video-on-demand services.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, hinted that the Commission is needed to ensure efficient and effective regulation of the process.

Dr Maida said, “If we go and create all of this amazing content, and we don’t take into account the fact that the mode of consumption has changed, and the fact that majority of this content is going to be consumed on demand,  it’s going to require some level of interaction in real time, which traditional broadcast does not allow  then I think we’re not going to be doing justice to the DSO project in a different way.

“We are going to be working very closely together, obviously led by the NBC,  we need to provide support and ensure that the communication sector is ready. If we do this right, especially if we get the right content, it is going to lead to a huge explosion in the consumption of data. So the kind of things that the NCC needs is to provide support and  to ensure that data is moving within the country.

“We  don’t want  data to go out and come back in. So we have a role there to play in the NCC. We also have a role there to play in ensuring that the quality of connections, the quality of the signal that people are getting into these internal connected devices is at the right level to support people enjoy this content.”

EVC NCC added” We must align with the fact that most content will be consumed on demand and in real time. Our role is to ensure that data consumption is supported by maintaining high quality connections and efficient internal data management.”