NBC, NigComSat Begin South-west Training to Fast-track Digital TV Migration

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComSat), will on Friday commence the training of more than 50 set-top box installers and technicians in Ibadan as part of efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s long-delayed transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting.

The technical and sensitisation programme, scheduled to hold at the NBC Zonal Office in Ibadan, is the first in a nationwide capacity-building exercise designed to prepare installers for the rollout of the country’s renewed Digital Switchover (DSO) programme.

In a statement yesterday ahead of the exercise, the Head of the DSO Unit and Deputy Director of Public Affairs at the NBC, Mrs. Clementine Usman-Wamba, said the commission was determined to ensure that the latest phase of the digital migration programme succeeded where previous efforts had stalled.

She said, “The training in Ibadan marks the beginning of a nationwide programme to equip installers with the knowledge and technical competence required to support Nigeria’s digital switchover. 

“We are bringing together technicians from across the South-west because they are the first point of contact for millions of television viewers who will migrate to the new platform. 

“Their competence will determine the quality of experience consumers receive.”

Usman-Wamba added that the new broadcasting architecture demanded a higher level of technical expertise than previous digital television pilot projects.

According to her, “The new ecosystem combines Digital Terrestrial Television, Direct-to-Home satellite broadcasting and Internet Protocol-based distribution. 

“Installers must therefore understand terrestrial antenna alignment, satellite dish installation and the configuration of hybrid reception devices. This is why technical training has become indispensable.”

Nigeria adopted the Digital Switchover policy in 2008 following the International Telecommunication Union’s directive requiring member states to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting by June 2015.

However, the country failed to meet that deadline as well as subsequent implementation targets because of inadequate funding, policy inconsistencies, infrastructure deficits and logistical challenges, despite pilot rollouts in Plateau, Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Kwara, Osun, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory.

After years of delays and public expenditure estimated at over N60 billion without achieving nationwide migration, the federal government unveiled a new implementation strategy in 2025 through the NBC and NigComSat.

The initiative, branded ‘The Big Picture’, was officially launched nationwide on June 17, 2026, with the final analogue switch-off scheduled for December 31, 2028.

Usman-Wamba said the new strategy represented a major shift in implementation.

She explained, “The hybrid model gives us the opportunity to accelerate deployment by combining terrestrial broadcasting with satellite technology. Instead of depending entirely on expensive terrestrial transmission infrastructure, we can leverage NigComSat’s satellite platform to expand coverage rapidly, especially in rural and underserved communities.”

She noted that the renewed approach would significantly improve access to digital television while reducing service disruptions.

“Our objective is not merely to switch off analogue television. Our goal is to ensure that Nigerians enjoy reliable, affordable and high-quality digital broadcasting wherever they live. 

“That can only happen if installers possess the right technical skills to deploy and maintain the equipment correctly,” she said.

Under the new framework, the FreeTV platform is expected to deliver up to 100 free-to-air digital television channels to an estimated 40 million households nationwide through satellite and terrestrial platforms.

The terrestrial network will operate on the DVB-T2 transmission standard with MPEG-4 AVC compression, while consumers will access the service through DVB-S2-compatible set-top boxes or smart television sets equipped with certified digital tuners.

Usman-Wamba stressed that the digital migration programme also carries significant economic benefits beyond broadcasting.

She said, “The Digital Switchover is a national economic project. Beyond improving television broadcasting, it will free valuable spectrum for broadband expansion, stimulate growth in the advertising industry, encourage local manufacturing of reception devices and create thousands of new jobs across the digital value chain.”

She disclosed that the Ibadan programme would be replicated across the country’s geopolitical zones to ensure that installers nationwide were adequately prepared ahead of the December 2028 analogue switch-off deadline.

According to her, “This is only the first phase. Similar engagements will be held across the country because we are committed to building the technical workforce needed to deliver universal digital television access. 

“As the countdown to the 2028 switch-off continues, capacity building remains one of the most critical pillars of the Digital Switchover programme.”