NBC needs N$500 million to go digital

THE Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) will need at least N$500 million for the compulsory Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) which should be fully implemented by 2015, its Director General Albertus Aochamub revealed yesterday.

DTT is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analogue television, which broadcasts land-based (terrestrial) signals.

The purposes of digital terrestrial television, similar to digital versus analogue in other platforms such as cable, satellite, and telecommunications; are reduced use of spectrum and more capacity than analogue, better-quality picture, and lower operating costs for broadcast and transmission after the initial upgrade costs.

Aochamub told Namibian Sun in an exclusive interview that the company has already submitted its proposal to Government on their intention to move to the digital age as required by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
The ITU compels countries across the world affiliated to it to go digital by 2015 and Aochamub says Namibia is no exception.

Aochamub explained that the NBC simply has no money for such a project, but has already informed Government in May 2011 on the move, indicating that the deadline for all countries in Africa to go digital is December 2012.

He said once the NBC goes digital; it has to increase the number of channels, which he says can go up to 18.

“The challenge will, however, be the content for all those channels. But in our case, we anticipate to only have at least four,” he said.

He said the NBC will consider channels for news and current affairs, sport and entertainment, documentaries, education and possibly a parliamentary one.

Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Joel Kaapanda was not available for comment on the progress made in securing the funds from Treasury for the digital process.

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In addition to the digital phase, the NBC will need N$470 million from Treasury to cover costs of operations for its live broadcasts.

Aochamub says the live beaming of national events such Independence Day, national budget, or the opening of Parliament was eating away at the corporation’s coffers.

He says such events costs the broadcaster close to N$500 000 per event, which can be more depending on the location of the event.

He said the NBC will be forced to cut down on the live coverage of national events, as it does not make business sense for the company which is currently N$300 million in the red.

“Practically it is not viable. We are shooting ourselves in the foot, which in the long run is detrimental to our existence,” he said.