Broadcasters Oppose June 17 Digital Switchover Target, Warn Against Illegal Rollout
Broadcasters warn Nigeria’s planned digital migration may violate existing laws, disrupt industry operations and impose fresh costs nationwide.
Broadcasters warn Nigeria’s planned digital migration may violate existing laws, disrupt industry operations and impose fresh costs nationwide.
Nigeria’s planned June 17 digital switchover target has come under fresh scrutiny as Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Monday raised concerns over the rollout’s legality, preparedness and potential effect on the industry, warning that the current framework violates existing laws and can waste billions in public funds.
That was as National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), also Monday moved to calm growing public anxiety over Nigeria’s proposed Digital Switch Over (DSO), insisting that the country’s long-delayed transition from analogue to digital broadcasting would not impose fresh burdens on Nigerians.
Addressing a joint press conference in Abuja, Director-General of NBC, Charles Ebuebu, and Managing Director of NIGCOMSAT, Jane Egerton-Idehen, said the new strategy would allow millions of Nigerians with existing decoders to access more than 100 free digital channels without purchasing special set-top boxes.
However, BON, the broadcasters’ body representing public and private television and radio stations across the country, accused NBC of abandoning the legally approved Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) migration model in favour of what it described as a satellite television packaging operation disguised as digital migration.
In a strongly worded letter dated May 19, 2026 and addressed to Ebuebu, BON warned that the platform scheduled for launch next month did not meet the internationally accepted definition of a Digital Switchover.
The protest came barely one week after Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, alongside NBC officials, announced June 17 as the definitive rollout date for the nationwide migration following an inspection tour of facilities belonging to Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited in Abuja.
Government officials had unveiled a new “FreeTV” platform expected to distribute over 100 channels nationwide through satellite transmission technology.
However, BON argued that the satellite-first approach fundamentally contradicted both the International Telecommunication Union’s GE06 Agreement and Nigeria’s 2012 Digital Switchover White Paper, which it described as the only legally gazetted framework governing digital migration in the country.
According to the broadcasters, the approved framework clearly defines digital migration as the transition from Analogue Terrestrial Television to Digital Terrestrial Television, not a direct-to-home satellite broadcasting system.
Industry stakeholders warned that the current model could undermine one of the major economic benefits of the DSO project — the release of the highly valuable 700 and 800 MHz spectrum currently occupied by analogue television signals.
The spectrum, popularly referred to as the “Digital Dividend,” is expected to be transferred to telecom operators for broadband expansion and spectrum auctions capable of generating more than $1 billion in revenue for the federal government.
Critics argue that by moving channels to satellite transmission, instead of migrating terrestrial frequencies, NBC’s new framework risks leaving the spectrum trapped and economically unproductive.
Beyond the technical concerns, BON also accused NBC of stepping outside its statutory role as an independent regulator by allegedly acting as a content aggregator on the newly rebranded FreeTV platform.
The broadcasters warned that the move created a major conflict of interest capable of distorting competition within the industry.
In the letter signed by BON Executive Secretary, Dr. Oluyemisi Bamgbose, the association maintained that the 2012 DSO roadmap established a clear separation of responsibilities among regulators, signal distributors, and content providers to prevent monopoly and abuse.
BON stated that if the federal government intended to abandon terrestrial broadcasting in favour of satellite and streaming services, NBC was legally required to suspend unilateral implementation and reconvene all statutory stakeholders to develop and gazette a fresh national framework.
The body said affected stakeholders included licensed signal distributors, set-top-box manufacturers, channel owners, and members of the original DigiTeam that coordinated Nigeria’s migration roadmap.
The broadcasters also raised concerns over what they described as the hidden financial burden the new satellite-based system could impose on millions of Nigerians.
According to industry analysts, unlike conventional terrestrial migration that only requires a relatively affordable decoder connected to existing rooftop antennas, the new satellite model would require citizens to purchase satellite dishes, specialised decoders, and pay for technical installation.
BON urged NBC to immediately educate Nigerians on the true cost implications of the proposed system, particularly for low-income households.
The association warned that proceeding with the rollout without resolving the legal, technical, and economic concerns could further deepen the controversies that have trailed Nigeria’s digital migration project for nearly two decades.
Nigeria’s DSO programme, initially launched to modernise broadcasting and comply with global digital broadcasting standards, had faced repeated delays, policy inconsistencies, and logistical setbacks, despite reportedly gulping over N60 billion in public and private sector investments over the years.
With less than a month to the proposed rollout date, the face-off between the nation’s broadcasters and the broadcast regulator now raises fresh uncertainty over the future of Nigeria’s digital broadcasting transition and the wider digital economy.
Meanwhile, Ebuebu and Egerton-Idehen, earlier Monday, announced that the federal government had fixed June 17, 2026 for the national launch of the new “Big Picture” DSO framework, while complete analogue switch-off nationwide was expected by December 31, 2028.
The development marks a major policy shift in Nigeria’s troubled digital migration programme, which began nearly two decades ago but suffered repeated delays due to funding constraints, litigation, infrastructure deficits and disagreements among industry stakeholders.
Defending the revised framework, Ebuebu said NBC had abandoned the earlier terrestrial-only model in favour of a hybrid broadcasting architecture combining DTT, Direct-to-Home satellite broadcasting (DTH) and internet-based streaming platforms.
According to him, the old model had become economically unsustainable because of the huge cost of erecting and maintaining transmission towers across the country.
