The success recorded at the
launch of Nigeria’s digital switch over in Jos and Abuja seems to be on the
decline as subscribers have continued to register their displeasure over the procurement
of substandard equipment.
Sources from Ilorin the
capital city of Kwara State squealed that obsolete equipment may have been used
for the on-going installations in Kwara and Osun States.
This to a large extent has
affected the much publicized multi channel free television which was hitherto
bandied as one of the dividend of democracy of the current administration.
For instance, subscribers in
Jos complained of the epileptic digital switch on which initially delivered 15
channels but were later reduced to nine. They added that a year after the Jos
digital was launched; the remaining parts of Plateau remained unattended to.
Although subscribers in the
federal capital city are enjoying 30 free television channels, experts argued
that the black spots must be attended to so as to sustain the tempo.
Stakeholders in the industry
are taken aback with the snail speed at which the analogue to digital in the FCT
and Jos is being handled and have continued to wonder when the National
Broadcasting Commission (NBC) will fully switch off analogue in Jos and the
FCT.
An expert who does not want
his name mentioned stated that to think that Plateau State and the FCT are just
but microcosms of Nigeria brings out the thought of what will happen to the
rest of Nigeria.NBC is by law empowered to regulate the industry and ensure
that Nigerians are not shortchanged in the process.
He added that the Minister
of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, NBC and DigiTeam must wake up to their
responsibility of ensuring that the equipment installed by the signal
distributors is standard and comply with the engineering specifications set by
the DSO. He stressed that all the equipment installed for which Nigerians are
expected to invest in STBs must be durable and quality equipment.
He implored NBC, the
Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) to
ensure that whatever equipment is imported, installed and deployed in the
process are not to pull the wool over the eyes of the teeming viewing public.
“Nigerians deserve to watch
uninterrupted free TV once they acquire the STB, All installation sites must be
painstakingly supervised so that equipment that are obsolete are not smuggled
into the country for this process” He sounded with a note of finality.
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