The Chairman, Presidential Committee on the Transition from Analogue to Digital Broadcasting, (also known as DigiTeam), Mr. Edward Amana, at the weekend, said federal government would realise more than $2 billion from the auction of unused mobile broadband spectrum.
He said all hands were on deck to commence the switchover to digital broadcasting in the first quarter of 2014, beginning from Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Enugu. He also mentioned that “The telecommunications operators require additional bandwidth in order to deliver faster internet services which Nigerians are willing to pay for.”
According to him, NCC is actually going to be the beneficiary of the left over spectrum when the digitisation switchover is completed.
While explaining the essence of the project in an interview with ThisDay, the chairman of the committee said: “One of the benefits of digital transition is that by the time we switchover from analogue to digital, part of the upper UHF will now be available for the telecoms operator to use for mobile broadband, which will now make life in the rural areas a lot more easier for those who can afford it.
“By the time the UHF bands vacated by television stations, telecommunications providers will further enhance their service delivery across the country with the acquisition of more leftover broadband.”
Amana said the decision to transit to digital broadcasting was taken in 2007 when it was decided by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that the upper band of UHF 790-862 should be set aside after the transition to be allocated on co-primary basis with other service providers.
“In 2012, the telecoms operators were pushing for more allocation for their mobile broadband; it was now again decided that after the transition, the band from 694-790 should also be added and identified for use by mobile broadband.” he said.
He stated that the National Frequency Management Board allocated spectrum to the various end users, adding that: “NCC is an end user like NBC, so at the end of the day, if nation and the rest of Africa decide that the leftover spectrum be used for mobile broadband, leftover frequencies will now be left for NCC to auction to telecommunications operators.
