From Left: Chairman of Pinnacle Communication Limited Sir Lucky
Omoluwa, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
Director General of NTA, Mallam Yakub Ibn Mohammed and the Director
General of NBC, Ishaq Modibbo Kawu during the facility tour of the
company in Abuja on Tuesday preparatory to the launch of the Digital
Switch Over in Abuja.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has  assured of the Federal Government’s readiness to launch the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in broadcasting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, by the end of 2016.

The Minister gave the assurance in Abuja on Tuesday after a guided  facility tour of Pinnacle Communication Limited – the licenced signal distributor of the DSO in the FCT and Trefonics, a licenced  manufacturer of Set Top Boxes.

He said it is imperative to ascertain the level of preparation of all the stakeholders in order to ensure a successful roll-out in Abuja.

“We are very much on track but I think it’s important to understand  what the Digital Switch Over entails. It entails that all the component actors be ready. Here is the signal distributor and we are  quite impressed that before the end of November, this facility will be ready to distribute signals to the entire FCT,” he said at the facility which is being constructed by the Pinnacle Communication Limited for the DSO.

Alhaji Mohammed said the Abuja launch is the most ambitious project so far in the DSO, the pilot of which was successfully held in Jos  earlier this year, because of its (FCT) strategic location as the nation’s capital.

He commended the patriotism of the Chairman of Pinnacle Communication Limited, Sir Lucky Omoluwa whom, he said, had remained focused on the  project despite the initial hiccup that almost derailed the DSO.

At the complex of Trefonics in the Idu Industrial Layout, the Minister  also expressed satisfaction with the Set Top Box manufacturing  process.

“The first Set Top Boxes were actually imported but there is a proviso in the  award letters that consequently, every licenced manufacturer will have to manufacture his products here and we are happy that Trefonics is doing  exactly that,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said with about 24 million TV households in Nigeria, and with proper marketing strategy and quality control, there will be a huge market for the Set Top Box manufacturers in the country.

He expressed the optimism that the DSO would revolutionize  broadcasting in Nigeria, thereby unleashing the creative potentials of  youths, and creating one million jobs in three years.

In his remarks, the Chairman of Pinnacle Communication Limited, Sir  Omoluwa, said 100% of all the equipment required for the DSO launch in  Abuja is on ground and that test transmission will commence in four  weeks.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Trefonics, Mr. Onochie  Amasiani, said the company has already manufactured 50,000 Set Top  Boxes using only one of its six production lines.

The Minister, who was accompanied by the Directors General of NTA and NBC, Mallam Yakub Ibn Mohammed and Mallam Ishaq Modibbo Kawu  respectfully, as well as the Chairman of the DigiTeam Nigeria, Mr.  Edward Amana, among others, inspected the mast foundation, control  room, dish farm site and transmitter building at Pinnacle  Communications Ltd, as well as the production line and manufactured.