Friday 11 May 2012

Nigeria to Ban Used TV, Radio Sets by 2015



Nigerians using or trading in used television and radio sets, popularly  called Tokunbo, have been asked to prepare to change them or change their trade  before 2015 when a new law banning importation of the items will begin.
The Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr Yomi  Bolarinwa, broke the news yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at a  lecture he delivered at the state Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists  (NUJ).
The lecture was organised as part of the capacity building programme of the  union.
He spoke on: NBC: The Challenges of Transition from Analogue
to Digital Broadcasting.
The proposed ban, Bolarinwa said, would ensure that Nigeria meets the 2015  deadline set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on full  digitisation of Broadcasting Industry from analogue to digital (UHF) and VHF by  2020.
Bolarinwa, who was represented by the Secretary to the commission, Mr Mark  Adeiza Ojiah, said the law would protect Nigerians from buying non-digital TV  sets.
He said: “Appropriate regulation will be enacted to stop the importation of  analogue broadcast and receiver equipment and enforce the placement of warning  signs by store owners and importers who have inventory of analogue equipment  that such receivers may not receive digital content at switchover except when  plugged to a set-top-box.”
The NBC chief warned importers of tokunbo TV sets to keep abreast of new  developments in the industry to prevent them from losing out by 2015.
This came as StarTimes, a Pay TV service provider, promised to transform  Nigeria from analogue to digital communication system by 2015.
It promised to accomplish this by reducing the cost of its decoder from  N7,000 to N3,900.
The General Manager of the company, Mr Rocky Tiang, told reporters in Ibadan  that the offer is in line with the deadline of changing from analogue to digital  before 2015.
According to him, the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, recently  released a deadline for analogue TV broadcast in Nigeria.
He said the company’s decoder is old with a smart card and an indoor  antenna.

via
The Nation

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