Nigeria: Digital TV Switch Over in June 2017

(AGI) - Lagos 22 jul - Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has assured that the country will leave no stone unturned in its quest to achieve a successful Digital TV Switch Over that will yield technological dividends far beyond imagination. He gave the assurance in London on Thursday after his interactions with key players in the successful UK Digital TV programme, including the country's Communication Regulator Ofcom, which created the regulatory structures that enabled the Digital TV Switch Over. The Minister, who also met officials of leading public service broadcaster BBC to understand its central role in supporting the development of Digital TV in the UK, said all concerned would work relentlessly to meet the June 2017 deadline for Digital Switch Over (DSO) in Nigeria. ''The Digital Switch Over in the UK spanned about five years (2008 to 2012). Nigeria has a much shorter time to achieve the same feat. But we will harness all the available expertise to ensure a ' successful and history-making switch over,'' Mohammed said, as he also visited Digital UK and Freeview to draw lessons from the UK's Digital Switch Over programme and to learn about the development of Freeview and the factors which have contributed to its long-running success as the Digital Terrestrial TV service that serves 75 per cent of UK homes. (AGI) .