Integrated transmission service as rare feat
As the main fulcrum of Digital Switch Over, DSO, broadcast technology in Nigeria, the Integrated Transmission Services, ITS,has raised the bar for broadcasting technology in the country.
Currently, it is providing signal subscribers in three states ofKwara, Oshun and Plateau, with a bright prospect for expansion to other parts of the country with time.
The signals that are being distributed by the ITS in Ilorin, Oshogbo and Jos respectively are said to be of high quality comparable to what is obtainable in advanced climes and in tandem with the best global practices.
Experts in broadcasting engineering have rated the ITS high for the clarity of signals and quality of sound which has been attracting more subscribers to its services. The ITS has indeed pioneered a digital broadcast revolution that will change the face of television broadcasting in Nigeria.
However, the company has been heavily criticized for rolling out the Digital Switch Over on what some ‘concerned Nigerians’ describe as ‘obsolete’ and ‘disused’ equipment and for relying on backward integration within which it strives to sustain and expand its services.
To these critics therefore, the entire switch over project rather than advance the course of broadcasting, is actually a draw back as it fore closes any prospect or possibility of expansion beyond the scope and capacity of the old infrastructure on which it is being run.
But the core broadcasting engineers think differently, as they insist that what ITS has done was a rare engineering feat. Before now, no one in Nigeria has done digital broadcasting because it was thought not to be possible with the set of equipment in the existing broadcast stations, like NTA, VON and FRCN, as they might not adapt to the demands of the new Digital Switch Over technology. ITS, has however debunked that notion with ground breaking achievement of deploying those same equipment and infrastructure to roll out the Digital Switch Over that is now at par with the best global practices.
In other climes, engineers and officials that piloted this ingenious achievement would be celebrated, for It takes core broadcast technology engineers to appreciate what the ITS engineers have achieved by migrating Nigeria from analogue to digital broadcasting on existing equipment, thus saving the people and government of Nigeria of huge cost in terms of scarce foreign exchange if the project were solely to depend on new equipment.
The core broadcast engineers feel that the ITS should have done more in the area of publicizing these achievements, especially that the Kenya and Tanzania switch over projects with technical assistance from Nigeria, are being run on almost the same template as the one deployed in our country. For those who are uninformed, the StarTimes which is a business partner with NTA is the single signal distributor in those countries who are equally using their old infrastructure and facilities as backbone for the projects. Similar exercise is taking place in the People’s Republic of Rwanda, where StarTimes, GoTv, have formed a conglomeration with other National TV stations to run the digital broadcast system.
It is equally important to point out that the laws that established ITS practically, mandated it’s engineers to rely on the structures and equipment of the existing broadcast institutions in Nigeria to migrate the country from analogue to digital broadcasting. This was a challenge which the ITS took on, and for which it’s engineers and management should therefore be commended. They have, complied with the terms of their mandate as provided in the white paper as produced by the Presidential Advisory Committee, which set the template and modus operandi for the DSO project.
In addition to achieving this migration as required, ITS has indeed opened up the Digital broadcast industry for business as more investors now have the opportunity to invest in it.
In one of the press conference held by the National Broadcast Commission, NBC, which is the regulator for the DSO project, in Protea Hotels, the then Director General, EmekaMba aptly said no one in Nigeria before now had don digital migration. Much as this is so, Businesses in Nigeria had for centuries thrived, so an average Nigeria know a thing or two about business methodology.The prime objective of going into any sort of business is to provide service/product and to make profit.
Withthe DSO, these reasoning had been adequately captured by the Eminent Nigerians that drew up the PAC report and subsequently the white paper. However the short coming which left hiatus in the process is the non-promulgation of binding act immediately then to ensure strict adherence to principles and spirit of the letters in the white paper. Trust Nigerians, this space had been dutifully exploited.
The white paper articulated an ecosystem for the digital broadcast environment in Nigeria that there would be separation of functions among the key players in the business, to wit: One, content providers (which shall be Broadcasters or property right owners); Two, signal distributors which shall ensure sustained quality signals with High Definition sound quality to subscribers from its transmission facilities, and; Three, Set-Top-Box manufacturers, an industry that is created to maximize benefits of Digital migration and to develop appropriate technology for its use.
Given this scenario, it should be seen that the players are expected to invest richly in building their platform and property for this digital Broadcasting.
Nigerians look ahead for a more rewarding, satisfying and prosperous digital broadcast services, as investors compete among themselves for the opportunities that this project has provided in the broadcast industry.
Alabi, a public affairs analyst, wrote this from Abuja.