LAGOS: Minister asks Sanwo-Olu to provide free three months outdoor advertising for digital switch-over

MINISTER of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed yesterday asked Governor Sanwo-Olu to direct the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) to provide out-of-home boards, lamp post and other publicity support for the Digital Switch Over (DSO) launch for at least three months.

Mohammed disclosed that the federal government is kick-starting the new rollout in Lagos on April 29; Kano, June 3rd; Rivers, July 8; Yobe, July 15; and Gombe on August 12. Other states are slated thereafter.

“In order to carry all the residents of Lagos along in the successful launch of the DSO, I want to request Your Excellency to direct the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) to provide out-of-home boards, lamp post and other publicity support for the DSO launch for at least three months

“The rollout in Lagos reflects our decision to take the DSO to commercial centres across the country. With a population of over 20 million, and projected TV households of over 5 million, the launch of FreeTV in Lagos State will be a critical milestone for the DSO and for Nigeria’s broadcast & creative industry,” said Mohammed.

He maintained that the DSO is not just about high fidelity sound and picture, it is also about creating jobs, especially for the teeming youth, stimulating local content and empowering channel owners.

He was optimistic that in the next three years, the DSO is capable of creating one million jobs, in the manufacturing of Set-Top-Box or decoder manufacturing; TV production; film production, distribution (supply of STBs, TVs and Dongles for the internet); as well as TV and online advertising.

“Lagos State, which is the hub of the creative industry, will take a large share of the one million jobs to be created. Since FreeTV helps to provide Value Added Services, the 20 local government areas and 37 LCDAs in Lagos State will be supported in the collection of television and radio licenses from residents.

“With FreeTV’s push system for information services, the FreeTV platform can be used to broadcast information on Lagos State activities to all viewers. Current users of this push system for information services include the Federal Ministry of Information & Culture, the National Broadcasting Commission, the State House and the Nigerian Police. Also, the Audience Measurement capability of the FreeTV platform will help advertisers in Lagos to target which programmes and channels are being watched by the audience. Lagosians can also cash in on the Push Video-on-Demand capability of the FreeTV platform to access premium blockbuster Nollywood movies from the comfort of their homes.”

Mohammed stated that a major advantage of the DSO is that viewers will not pay subscription fees, because once they acquired the Set-Top-Box and pay the once-a-year access fee, which is a token, it’s free viewing all the way.

“Millions of Nigerians who cannot afford to pay the rising subscription fees being charged by the PayTV platforms can now enjoy the benefit of digital television. This is the meaning of bridging the digital divide.

Mohammed continued, “This brings me to the relevance of the DSO to the Lagos Smart City Project and the Lagos Broadband initiative. Everywhere in the world, video consumption has been the key driver for majority of homes acquiring Broadband. And the commercialisation of Broadband requires people/home to consume the large pipes of data, which only video can do. Most other uses don’t require much data. FreeTV and the DSO can provide the best of local content to drive purchase of last mile home data. And also the home equipment used for the home can be the FreeTV boxes which already have the data port to bring data to the home.

“Finally, the DSO focuses on the building of the home devices/STB’s locally which should also be the end user for Lagos Broadband initiative, and Lagos should therefore get involved.”