Tuesday, October 29, 2013

BON advocates transition fund for digitalization programme


The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) has called on the federal government to establish a fund that will boost a seamless digital transition programme for the country.
The Chairman of BON, Mallam Abubakar Jijiwa gave the charge in Abuja  at the opening of a two-day digital broadcast summit with the theme “Digital switch-over: milestones and bridges’’ organised by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), stressing that the government should  ensure that no station, whether private of public would be left behind by 2015.
Jijiwa lamented that the challenges in the broadcasting sector were enormous and that financial constraint was part of what could make it impossible for some stations to meet the deadline of Jan. 1, 2015.
``The challenges in the broadcasting sector are becoming more complex as we move closer to the switch-over date of 2015. We, therefore, want to call for a marshal plan to assist broadcast stations with the needed funds to actualise our goal of transiting seamlessly by January 2015. We are not saying government should give subvention to stations. It should be a loan with a generous repayment arrangement so that our members can have access to funds to address all grey areas ahead of the switch-over date,’’ Jijiwa said.
The Director-General of NBC Emeka Mba, informed DigitalSENSE Business News that the forum was to avail stakeholders the opportunity to discuss on digitisation and assess the work done so far and stressed that the deadline was real and that NBC and other stakeholders were set to implement key aspects of the road map to the eventual switch-over to digital broadcasting.
The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, represented by Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Folashade Esan commended NBC for the initiative to meet with stakeholders and urged all players in the broadcast sector to endeavour to adopt trends in technology to ensure that the transition was not only hitch-free but beneficial to all broadcast audiences.
AN/GEE


DigitalSENSE Business News
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
pix: Director-General of NBC Emeka Mba

No comments: