Minister inaugurates NBC board, urges stronger regulation ahead 2023 elections - ITREALMS

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The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has inaugurated the Governing Board of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), with a call on the commission to scale up regulations ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“Please note that as we move closer to the 2023 general elections, the NBC will come under increasing pressure to step up its regulatory role to prevent a repeat of what transpired before, during and after the 2019 general elections, when some broadcast stations threw caution to the wind and engaged in inciting, incendiary and unprofessional broadcasts.

MIC confirms request for N13.1m from NBC, says not personal loan for Lai Mohameed

ITRealms:

The Ministry of Information and Culture (MIC) has confirmed requesting for a loan of N13,120,470.00 million from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to cover a five-man delegation to Beijing, China for a conference on Tourism for Development, reports ITRealms.

MIC also insisted that the loan is not a personal loan for the Honourable Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

A press statement signed by Director of Press (DoP) and Protocols at MIC, Dama N.P.D. and made available to ITRealms, said their attention has been drawn to a letter endorsed by (DoP) to the Ag. Director General, NBC, said the loan is to cover tickets and travel expenses of a five-member delegation being led by the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture to Beijing, China.

Dama alleged that the internal memo was mischievously leaked to the social media by staff of National Broadcasting Commission.

According to Dama, the loan being requested is for the Ministry to meet up its obligations to enable the Minister and members of his delegation attend the Conference on Tourism for Development in China, that is, meant to benefit the country.

“The loan is not meant for the Honourable Minister alone as personal expenses, but for the expenses of all members of the delegation … but for the entire five members of the delegation to cover for tickets, travel allowances and other incidentals,” Dama said.

The conference, Dama said, is being organized by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation in conjunction with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, under the overall theme “Tourism for Peace and Development,” will feature amongst others discussions on major issues for sustainable development including the contribution of Tourism to poverty reduction and peace.

Dama further said the Conference will also feature discussion on major issues that have direct bearing on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), poverty alleviation through Tourism and the linkage between Tourism peace at the National and International levels.

In addition, Dama said, China on this occasion as chair of G20 will also host the 7^th T20 Ministers meeting under the theme “Sustainable Tourism, An Effective Tool for Inclusive Development.''

The Conference, the DoP pointed out, is a veritable platform to develop synergy and partnership with players in the global Tourism Industry which will go a long way in boosting our drive to diversify the Nigerian economy.

“It is also important to note that the Minister and his delegation were to have discussion in China with Set Top Box Manufacturers, who are meant to establish manufacturing factories in Nigeria for these boxes for our digital broadcasting processes, rather than the current situation in which the boxes are being imported.  This is meant to conserve our foreign exchange and to also create avenue for job creation for our citizens,” Dama said.

The DoP emphasized that the Conference is an all important gathering that will benefit Nigeria, contribute towards diversification of its revenue base and create employment opportunities for Nigerians.

“Again, it is not unusual for an agency under the Ministry to assist in order to carry out government functions.  Moreover, the request was discussed with the Ag. Director General NBC, who agreed to assist with the loan before the letter was written.  It is therefore shocking to find out that an internal memorandum from the Ministry could be leaked out to the social media by saboteurs in order to embarrass the government,” Dama said, maintaining that no multiple letters were written to government agencies as alleged.

“We only wrote to NBC after discussing with the Ag. DG.  Payments were to be effected if the fund were loaned out based on extant financial regulations.  There is nothing wrong with the request of the Ministry to meet up with an important assignment meant to benefit the country,” Dama claimed.

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CTO, NBC bring 3-day Digital Broadcasting Africa forum to Lagos

ITRealms:

The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) have concluded plans to stage a three-day Digital Broadcasting Africa Forum 2016 to Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the nation, reports ITRealms.

The forum, which commences tomorrow, Wednesday at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, would last till Friday this week.

According to the Communications Team at Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), the event comes with the theme: The pan-Africa transition: Achieving digital migration success.

ITRealms reports that some of the highlights include a joint CTO and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) meet the press session, just as topics such as “Broadcast Technology Trends, Next Generation, Entertainment, Creation of Local Content, Digital Migration and Spectrum Allocation, Financial and Business Considerations, The consumer Perspective, Digital Radio, Achieving Digital Inclusion, and Financial and Business Considerations” would top agenda.

Robert Hayman, Manager, International Events had informed ITRealms that the event promises to build on the successful Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum Africa events that have taken place over the last decade, and recognises the changes that have taken place in broadcasting during that time.

These events have helped policy makers, regulators and operators from the African broadcasting and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors to map out their strategies for digital switchover.

Remmy Nweke/ED, Op

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NBC bags 3 Webjurist awards

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has bagged three special Webjurist awards in the 2015 edition of the event organized by Phillips Consulting in Lagos, reports ITRealms.

The occasion held at The WheatBaker Ikoyi-Lagos saw the NBC clinching three Federal parastatals category awards including the Best Web Aesthetics, the Best Web Accessibility and the first place in the Webjurist awards, which is the overall.

ITRealms reports that largely this award is for federal government parastatal and state-owned websites and have been assessed based on the aesthetics, technical aspects, website content, user experience and performance.

NBC, ITRealms notes is a parastatal of the Federal Government of Nigeria, empowered to regulate the broadcasting industry based on Act 38 of 1992 as amended by Act 55 of 1999. 

While Phillip Consulting has held this awards for over 12 years, consistently rating the official corporate websites of financial, telecommunications and media institutions, during her annual Web-Jurist exercise.

According to Foluso Phillips, founder of Phillips Consulting Limited, the initiative has contributed to enhancing corporate websites, and increased the consciousness and interest of organisations in appreciating the value of well-articulated websites in today’s digitally driven economy.

ITRealms recollects that the Annual Web-Jurist Awads has become a highly recognised brand and Phillips Consulting Limited has gone further to produce analyses of each organisation’s website, in order to provide bases for improvement. 

“Websites today, have become not just the marketing and publicity face of organisations, but also an important aspect of service delivery and interaction with clients, customers and indeed all stakeholders,” officials said.

 

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NICNPA award for NBC boss

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Independent Community Newspapers Publishers Association (NICNPA) has presented the Golden Award for Industrious Service to the Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr. Emeka Mba for his outstanding performance in broadcast regulation and contributions to the overall development of the broadcasting sector in Nigeria.

Receiving the award from the Zonal Chairman, NICNPA South-South – Mr. Charles James Umejei, Mr. Mba expressed his gratitude for the recognition and noted that communication at the grassroots level such as community newspapers is very important to deepening democracy and building sustainable development in society.

The DG also expressed the desire of the Commission to work with rural based organizations such as NICNPA to achieve effective rural penetration when the digitization publicity and awareness campaign takes off fully.
 

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Digital Migration: NBC unveils Home Assistance Scheme

ITRealms:

The Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Emeka Mba, has announced a Home Assistance Scheme which is aimed at enabling Nigerians realize the digital switchover, ITRealms reports.

He stated that government would bear part of the cost of the Set Top Boxes in order to protect Nigerians from cut-throat prices, even as the scheme would also address the concerns of the investors who have pumped in huge amount of money into the project of manufacturing the boxes. He assured Nigerians that the boxes when produced would not cost more than N1500.

Mba was speaking at the official signing of partnership agreement between Media Concepts International Limited (NBC licensed Set Top Box manufacturers) and KAON Media, South Korea (MCI chosen OEM partner) with National Broadcasting Commission, Tuesday in Lagos.

The NBC boss thanked both MCI and KAON for being part of the digital migration process, stressing that Nigeria offers a huge market and with Digital switchover the entire value chain in Broadcasting will change, switching from analogue to digital, adding that beyond being able to watch television with the set top box it can give you internet services thereby shutting the digital divide in the country.

He also thanked the indigenous investors like MCI who are investing in this project, adding  that there will  be massive job creation as a result of the project bearing in mind that the manufacturing of the boxes will be done in Nigeria.

The DG who said the digital migration project include set top boxes, signal distribution and content, said the 2017 switchover date is sacrosanct not closing the door for other possibilities because according to him “we are switching off people and government would like to carry everybody along.” He warned those who may wish to embark on brisk businesses by bringing boxes from outside to kill the dream. He said there are 13 NBC certified companies for the boxes  and any other set top boxes from other sources will not work in Nigeria.

He also stated that there is budget that have been mapped out to tackle e-waste resulting from the disused televisions and set top boxes because all electronic devices have life span. He said because many analogue television sets will be affected there will be locations for dumping so that appropriate authorities could collect them for disposal.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Danbatta, Emeka Mba to speak at Nigeria Telecom Impact CEO Forum 2015

 ITRealms:

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta, Director General, National Broadcasting Commission, Emeka Mba, are expected to address the Nigeria Telecom Impact CEO Forum 2015, ITRealms reports.  

Other speakers at the event include CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Yusuf Kazaure and his counterparts from MTN, Michael Ipoki; Airtel, Segun Ogunsanya; Etisalat, Matthew Wilsher; MainOne, Funke Opeke among other CEOs. 

ITRealms gathered that top Nigerian CEOs from diverse sectors of the economy will be gathering on October 30 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Lagos, to deliberate on how the influence of telecommunications could contribute 25 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Themed “How Telecoms Can Contribute 25 per cent to the GDP by 2025”, the Impact CEO Forum would focus on the recently rebased GDP figures, which revealed that Nigeria’s telecommunications sector is “a star performer in the economy”.

Organiser of the event, ICT Watch Network, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, said as more sectors of the Nigerian economy appreciate the importance of telecommunications in improving their productivity and efficiency, there is a need to have an open platform where “C-level executives of various sectors will meet the telecommunication companies to discuss current trends and make realizable projections into the future”.

Adewusi said Impact CEO Forum is envisioned as the foremost influential meeting of top-level executives who will assess the impression of telecom on their businesses. As such, he informed, the event has attracted about 50 CEOs and 300 participants from all sectors of the economy from telecoms, agriculture, banking, entertainment, broadcasting and manufacturing, ITRealms learnt.

Other areas the influence of telecoms is heavily being felt is lottery and pooling, education, law, e-commerce, emergency management, tourism, customs and immigration. Others are travel and logistics, capital market, maritime, sports and government.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE,

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Pix: Prof Umar Danbatta,

MTN gets NBC nod to operate pay TV

ITRealms

 

As part of the expansion of the MTN Group in Nigeria, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has finally granted operating license to the telecom giant, reports ITRealms.

Disclosing this Wednesday, the Director-General of NBC, Mr. EmekaMba while presenting the Commission’s journey so far on digital switchover, said that they have successfully licensed MTN Nigeria Limited to provide digital pay Tv broadcasting services.

“I'm pleased to inform you that we have successfully licensed MTN Nigeria Ltd to use a part of the 700 MHz to provide digital pay TV broadcasting services,” he said.

Mba revealed that NBC used the licensing to raise the sum of N34 billion, which was very helpful in meeting its budget need upto about 50 per cent.

He used the opportunity urge other African countries struggle with funding for digital migration to take advantage of licensing.

“I am pleased to inform you, also, that through this singular move, Nigeria has once again pointed the way for other African countries struggling with the effort of finding financing for their own digital switchover programmes,” he said.

NBC chief executive officer also explained that the use of the band, 470 – 862MHz solely for UHF Television Broadcasting Service on a primary basis in Nigeria predates both the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

“As a matter of fact, most Administrations in ITU Region 1 use the entire 470 – 862 MHz for UHF Television Broadcasting prior to ITU WRC-2007 conference,” he said.

Pointing out that in in 2006, ITU planned the entire 470 – 862MHz frequency band for Digital UHF Television Broadcasting for ITU Region 1 to which the Nigerian administration belongs. 

Stressing that the planning of 470 – 862MHz frequency band for Digital UHF Television is referred to in the ITU circle as GE-06 Plan and after the signing of the agreements resulting from this plan it is now referred to as the GE-06 Agreement.

He was optimistic that this should clear any doubt as to where these frequencies belong until after the completion of the digital switch over.

On Set Top Boxes, he said, off-shore mass production and delivery of initial subvented boxes for Jos pilot project was envisaged to be completed by end of October, while the local manufacture of the set top boxes is expected to begin in April 2016.

NBC, he said, would conclude some critical activities with regard to signal transmission infrastructure by December 31, 2015.

These segment, Mba noted, include the publishing of the Request for Proposal (RFP), thereby concluding the National Signal Mapping, awarding the transmission Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), designating the ITS for Jos and beginning live digital transmission; and we plan to be done with these by the end of December, 2015.

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Emeka Mba apologises for inability to meet ITU deadline

ITRealms

The Director General, National Broadcasting Commission, Emeka Mba has apologised for the inability of Nigeria to meet the ITU deadline, ITRealms reports.

Speaking at the 6^th Annual NigeriaCom conference and Exhibition held in Lagos Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, from September 14-15, 2015, pointed out that the Commission took all the steps necessary within available resources in the attempt to ensure Nigeria was able to switch off analogue transmission.

The theme of this year’s event, ITRealms gathered, focused on the next phase of connecting businesses and lifestyles across the digital economy. Day one focused intently on operator strategies and the regulatory position in creating affordable access to grow the digital economy. Key insight was provided into growth of mobile commerce and mobile financial services.

Day two centred on data and winning the content battle ground through quality user-based platforms. Highlights of the presentations included an ‘Update on Nigeria’s digital switchover’ by DG, NBC.

“The major reason why Nigeria was not able to switch off was due to late planning, and absence of funding for infrastructure and Set-Top Boxes.” Mr. Mba noted that the successful implementation of the Digital Switchover required some creative thought leadership. He stressed that. The Commission was focused on creating a future that will bridge the digital divide especially in homes that see TV as a primary source of information.

The Director General, ITRealms learnt,  revealed that June 20, 2017, has been chosen as the new switchover date from analogue to digital terrestrial television transmission in the African sub-region. “Digital Switchover is a very expensive venture”, he stated. “However, following the availability of substantial part of the funds needed to execute the transition, machinery has been put on ground to advance the process”, he added. 

Other presentations included “Connecting the Unconnected –Connectivity that matters, The event also featured panel discussions, speed Networking sessions, Exhibitions and interactions.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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NBC prepares content producers for digital migration

ITRealms:

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is preparing the nation’s content producers for digital migration with a two-day workshop, which commenced in Lagos Tuesday, reports ITRealms.

NBC is a federal government agency that monitors and regulates broadcasting industry in Nigeria, just as apex broadcast organ said content will be the key driver in the nation’s quest for a successful digital era.

Speaking on the topic: Digital Migration towards Content Development, on the first day of the NBC Workshop on Content Production in the Digital Era in Lagos, Mr Abdulkarim 

Mohammed, a professional television producer, said that content which is storytelling comes with a lot of challenges, especially when the target of NBC is to establish the largest digital space on the continent which he said, is going to throw up a big challenge for the content producer.

He noted that in content production, both the make-up artist, the writer, the camera man, the director must interface to realize the targeted goal. Content wh, Mohammed said could be real, fiction or futuristic, hence it must be weighty enough to realize the objective of the digital era, adding that foreign direct investment have actually grown even as Nigeria is moving towards the top ten largest economy in the world come the year 2020, and commended Nollywood as the number two Movie makers in the world and number one in the continent. He also said it is technology that makes content possible.

Mohammed said market plan is equally germane in content development so that your ideas could be translated into cash. Pointing out that with a population of about 270 million people which he said is no marginal size and with the strongest economy since rebasing, ITRealms informs, the country is a fertile ground for content to thrive.

For the Director-General, NBC, Mr. Emeka Mba, while to ITRealms said “we may not have enough content at the moment but it is good people know the importance of digital migration”. 

According to him, with digital one must be on a platform, saying that NBC is only acting as a catalyst and regulator to the creation of that platform. He also added that during logical channel numbering  that  is which channel will take preeminence in the, EPG, he said, “public broadcasters must come first before other broadcasters”. Maintaining that digital switchover has begun since 2010 with over 2million subscribers, saying that the body is not going to shut out over 100 million analogue users, which he said will be sacrilegious, ITRealms gathered. 

He maintained that for the analogue users there is need to first create the platform first and then make sure that the people have access to the step-up boxes in order to enjoy the digital platform, saying that Government is making sure that these people are not shut out of the digital era through what he called Step-up Scheme.

While Simon Herold spoke on the Use of Camera to drive content, Tobi Owolabi and Juniper Musa dwelt on Types of Content and Use of Costume to drive content respectively, whilst Ms Eme Esua gave insight on the Director’s view on content development among others.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

 

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Pix: DG, NBC, Emeka Mba