Digital Broadcasting Will Create Massive Employment For Nigerians-Lai Mohammed
Digital Broadcasting Will Create Massive Employment For Nigerians-Lai Mohammed
By Chris Suleiman, Abuja
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Wednesday said Digital Switch Over DSO, which the Pilot Roll-Out took place in Jos Plateau state last weekend would create enormous Jobs for the teaming Nigerian youth if fully effective.
The Minister who spoke while addressing a Press Conference at the International Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja, where he said “as I said earlier, the DSO roll-out last Saturday was nothing short of a revolution in broadcasting. The DSO is an evolving media landscape that affects us all and how we receive, watch, monetize and develop television and production going forward.
He added that “Therefore,what happened in Jos at the weekend is momentous, the dawn of a new era for Government, TV Channels, Producers, Advertisers and, most importantly,the Nigerian TV customer.
“In terms of the economy, all licensed Set-Top Box manufacturers have been mandated to establish manufacturing companies in Nigeria to produce the boxes locally, after importing the first set of boxes. This will create massive employment and also ensure the transfer of technology to our people.
The transition will also be a catalyst for retailers and installers to emerge all over the country, with a massive impact on the local economy.
Alhaji Lai said “For musicians and movie producers, the DSO will be a blessing as they can. now wrong-foot those who have been pirating their works by releasing such works
directly to millions of homes using the Digital platform.
“Also, the capacity generated by the digital broadcasting technology allows for more players to be licensed for the provision of many more television services, compared to the analogue broadcasting technology. This means more choice for the viewers, with the
possibility of services being licensed by genre, for example, musical, news, gospel, movie and so on.
He described the feat of last weekend in Jos as massive and a culmination of a roller-coaster journey that started in 2004, when the Council of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN
Specialized Agency for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), adopted Resolution 1185 on the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting.
He however, revealed that after six months of uncommon commitment and dedication by the stakeholders, Nigeria finally switched on digital broadcasting in the city of Jos, which was chosen for the pilot scheme, after missing two deadlines.
