FG fixes June 17 for digital switch over

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has announced that Nigeria’s long-awaited Digital Switch Over (DSO) project is now fully ready for nationwide launch, describing it as a major milestone in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda for the broadcast industry.

The Minister made this known during a tour of facilities at NIGCOMSAT, located at the Obasanjo Space Centre, on Wednesday, alongside the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Charles Ebuebu, and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT, Jane Egerton-Idehen.

Describing the development as a turning point for Nigeria’s broadcasting sector, the Minister said: “I think this is a new dawn for our country. The promise that President Tinubu made to reform all sectors is now being seen in action in the broadcast industry.”

Idris noted that after many years of delay, Nigeria is finally set to complete the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, adding that the DSO platform is scheduled for official commissioning on June 17, 2026.

Speaking further on the benefits of the new digital broadcasting ecosystem, the Minister stated: “This is going to bring a lot of advantages to broadcasters, viewers, and advertisers. If you are viewing any particular station, you know who is viewing, what they are watching, and how many people are watching.”

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According to him, the new system will provide accurate audience measurement and analytics that will help advertisers and broadcasters make informed programming and investment decisions, while improving content delivery to Nigerians.

The Minister also highlighted the broader economic and technological impact of the initiative, stressing that the platform would deepen competition in the broadcasting industry, expand access to free television services, and improve viewing quality across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The monopoly has been broken. Everybody is going to compete. Content is going to grow, viewership will grow, and Nigeria is now moving from SD to HD broadcasting,” he said.

He added that Nigerians will now enjoy cleaner television signals through satellite and mobile applications powered by NIGCOMSAT technology.

The Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Charles Ebuebu, said the upgraded DSO framework was designed to align with emerging technologies and modern viewing habits.

He explained that the new system leverages satellite broadcasting and mobile applications to ensure wider accessibility beyond the pilot cities previously covered under the earlier DSO experiment.

“We’re going to have 100 channels by the day of launch and even more because more content producers are talking to us. We want to create one market and one platform for Nigeria,” he stated, while also highlighting the establishment of regional production studios and multilingual customer support centres across the country.

Also speaking during the tour, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NIGCOMSAT, Jane Egerton-Idehen, described the collaboration between NIGCOMSAT and NBC as a strategic partnership that has strengthened service delivery and raised operational standards within Nigeria’s digital broadcasting ecosystem.

According to her, ongoing investments and satellite expansion plans under the current administration will guarantee reliable and continuous service delivery. “The work has only just started. The work has only just begun,” she said.