DSO: GDT pledges to meet consumers’ demands for set top boxes
Godfrey Ohuabunwa, group managing director, Gospell Digital Technology (GDT), has said that the company and other producers are ready to meet consumers’ demands for Set Top Boxes.
Following the launching of the digital switchover (DSO) in Lagos penultimate week He also disclosed that GDT and 13 other licensed Set Top Box Manufacturers have enough boxes to meet the consumers demand and more.
“With our own factory in Calabar and a second factory being opened in Port Harcourt in addition of 12 other manufacturers there will be enough Set Top Boxes for consumers to experience real digital television revolution in the country. As of Thursday, April 29 when we launched in Lagos, over 300,000 boxes were made available to Lagos alone and they are everywhere in Lagos via our different outlet in Ajah, Oshodi, Surulere, Mushin, Agege, Alaba, Isolo, Igando, Badagry, Ikorodu and others
“The boxes or the decoders are available. As you know Gospell Digital Technology GDT is one of the 13 licensed leading Set Top Box manufacturers with our own factory in Calabar and a second factory being opened in Port Harcourt before the city switches over soon. Others may not have boxes for now and we all understand the challenges they are facing. Let me speak for Gospell, we have over a million boxes ready to be activated and as we speak the factory in Calabar is working and observing the COVID-19 protocols. Lagos today will require over a million to 4 million boxes in the next two years.
“We have continued production. We are not shutting down after meeting Lagos demand. Gospell is ready while other manufacturers are also fine-tuning their production lines to meet up. That is why our factory is working 24/7. For us, as a company, we expect that by October when Lagos will be completely switched off, Gospell would have produced at least four million boxes alone,” Ohuabunwa, who doubles as a member Presidential Taskforce on DSO explained.
He said, ‘‘our strategy is that our box production barring any unforeseen circumstances, should meet the demand. I am also aware that as the Chairman of Set Top Box manufacturers, despite the fact that I am Gospell, the members are also producing. This is outside what we are doing to flood the market with the decoders. In totality as a group, we have sufficient boxes to meet the present demand and even more. We are also training the installers and technicians who will affect repairs on boxes outside our factories where we handle such technical issues.
“We have sufficient boxes for Lagos and the rest states. Don’t forget also that the switch-off will be total in 2022 and no going back after the process of switch over and switch off must have been completed.”
The federal government started the digital switch over in Jos, Plateau state in 2015, but was launched in Lagos on Thursday, April 29 2020 after three years of inactivity.
