The federal government set out a time table to begin switching off analogue signals on televisions starting from the 11th of March 2021, over the transition to full digital platforms across the country.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and the Acting Director-General of National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Prof. Amstrong Idachaba, made this announcement during a press briefing on the time table for Phase 2 of Digital Switch Over (DSO), in Nigeria.
The Acting Director-General of the National Broadcasting Corporation disclosed that the first analogue switch-off is slated for May 28, 2021, in the Federal Capital Territory while Plateau, Kaduna, Kwara, Enugu and Osun States would follow suit in June, August and September 2021 respectively.
The federal government warned that as soon as the analogue signal is turned off, nobody on the system would ever get tv signals any longer in the country other than with the DSO authorized set-top boxes (decoders).
A 2-month grace which begins yesterday has been given to the general public to get ready for the first switch off in Abuja. He added that the signal distributors are expected to work within a timeframe to attain an 80 per cent coverage in Phase 1 locations.
The phase 2 location begins in Lagos, Kano and Rivers, Yobe and Gombe States with each date set for every location as Lagos starts April 29, 2021; Kano- June 3, 2021, Rivers- July 8, 2021; Yobe- July 15, 2021, and Gombe- August 12, 2021.
Additional locations under the phase 2 phase to be switched on include Imo, Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Jigawa and Ebonyi States which will be at the end of the first quarter of 2022.
While the Phase 3 switch-on is set to begin in December 2021 and end with final the analogue switch off on December 8, 2022.
Mohammed has also assured that before the government embark on the analogue switch-off in any state, it would ensure that the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) signal has covered at least 70 per cent of the population in that state, while the remaining 30 per cent would be covered by Direct-To-Home (DTH) satellite signal.
