FG To Set Fees For Digital Television By 2015

Nigerians would have to pay fees for digital terrestrial television broadcasting by 2015, according to the Federal Government.

Over the weekend, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, made the revelation at the opening of the Extra Ordinary Meeting of the National Council of Information in Abuja.

According to Maku, the planned content access fee, which would be paid by Nigerians seeking access to television content, was undergoing final adjustments which he hoped would get the nod of the Federal Executive Council before the migration.

He also said government and other stakeholders would leverage on the new technology to make the new format more effective than the archaic radio licence fees format.

Labaran Maku stated that in other countries the public broadcast services are run from fees collected on broadcast content. And now, as we are undertaking a new format, we are taking advantage of the digital technology and looking beyond sending people to go from place to place to collect fees for broadcast content.

Under this new regime, Maku explained that "for anyone to have access to television content one has to pay an annual content access fee which is set to be operational".

The minister outlined some of the advantages of the new broadcast content fee collection regime to include improved financial capability for stakeholders to improve content and upgrade infrastructure.

He said this would help the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission and other stakeholders to have access to adequate funds for sustained upgrade of their infrastructure for effective service delivery.

On the NCI meeting, Maku said Nigeria was at crossroads to either transit smoothly or risk being cut-off from the rest of the world by June 2015 when the global migration deadline takes effect.

He stressed the need for improved coordination and cooperation among stakeholders to ensure that Nigeria joined the rest of the world in the new digital era.

"We are here because we are approaching the deadline and Nigeria must transit. We must do everything possible, we must work 24 hours to ensure that our country is not cut-off from the rest of the world," he said.

The minister, who acknowledged that the process of migration was not an easy one, however, noted that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

While stressing the need for a robust public sensitisation ahead of the deadline, Maku urged the NBC, state governments and private broadcast stations to work together to ensure a smooth transition for the country.

Source: Legit.ng