Minister in US, seeks collaboration with Gate Air executive on DSO
Federal Government has again assured of its commitment to roll out the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in all the six geo- political zones in the country in the next few weeks, as a practical demonstration of its readiness to the DSO project.
Minister of Information and Culture,Alhaji Lai Mohammed made this remark in Quincy, United States of America, USA, during a meeting with the executives of Gates Air, a market leader in transmission solutions for broadcast network operators.
The minister said the meeting with the company, which is a key player in the DSO process, showed the government’s commitment to the project.
He said the DSO, which was first inaugurated in Jos, Plateau state capital, in April 2016,and also in Abuja, is ready to be rolled out in the six geo-political zones, via six states: Kaduna, Kwara, Delta, Enugu, Gombe and Osun.
According to him, the switch over from analogue to digital television, is ‘irreversible’ because, the DSO is a ‘game changer’ that will bring immense benefits to Nigerians and help the government’s economic diversification drive.
He said,“The DSO is very important to this administration, because of the limitless potential it represents. For us as a government, DSO goes beyond just receiving digital transmission, but an avenue to create jobs and ignite the huge creative potential of our youths. It is also a solution to some of the intractable problems affecting the creative industry, including piracy and distribution.”
The minister, who was in company with the Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on DSO, Hon. Sunday Katung, Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Malam Ishaq Kawu Modibbo, Chairman of Digiteam, Mr Edward Amana, and the Chairman of Pinnacle Communications, Sir Lucky Omoluwa, inspected the facilities at the company’s factory, where several equipment meant for the DSO roll-out are currently being manufactured.
An elated Muhammed said,“Seeing some of the equipment being shipped to Nigeria for the DSO project has reinforced our belief in the ability of Pinnacle Communications Limited (one of the two signal distributors for the project) to meet its roll-out targets.”
Katung said that, Pinnacle Communications Ltd and Gates Air are reliable partners.
“We seem to be heading in the right direction, after several misses, and I can now confidently speak on the project when I return to Nigeria,” Katung said.
Malam Modibbo, described as a source of pride the benchmark set with the Abuja roll-out of the DSO in December 2016, noting that the DSO project will be delivered on a modern platform, due to the partnership with the Ministry of Information and Culture, the NBC and the signal distributors.
The Chief Executive Officer of Gates Air, Mr. Phil Argyris, who welcomed the delegation to his company, assured of the company’s readiness to work with Nigeria to make the DSO’s project a success.
