Guardian

SPURRED by successful launches in Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Enugu, Benin City and Aba, the new DTT (digital terrestrial television) service, GOtv has expanded its operational base with the flag-off of its service in Owerri, capital city of Imo State. The service was launched at the All Seasons Hotel, Owerri last Saturday.

GOtv provides television lovers with a digital quality picture and sound and an exciting line up of local and international channels.  With  its bouquet, subscribers will have access to an exciting selection of channels containing news, children’s programming, documentaries, series and movies which are carefully selected to cater for a variety of different tastes and family viewing needs at a very affordable price.

Channels in its lineup include AfricaMagic, AfricaMagic Movies, AfricaMagic World, AfricaMagic Yoruba, AfricaMagic Hausa, E! Entertainment, Discovery World, eTV Africa, Vox Africa, Select Sports, Al Jazeera and CNN, Channel O, MTV Base, Disney Junior, Nickelodeon, Kidsco, Islam Channel, One Gospel, Sound City and Black Belt TV which gives families a great selection. Plus, GOtv will also add two channels; M-Net Movies Zone and SuperSport Select 2 on June 11.

Launched by Details Nigeria in association with MultiChoice Nigeria, GOtv utilizes the DVB-T2 technology standard, which allows for no less than 21 channels per frequency, this is different from other first generation standard DVB-T1, which only allow for up to 13 channels per frequency. Thus, there is a dramatic improvement on the dividend of terrestrial frequencies available when DVB-T2 is deployed.

Owerri residents are now set to benefit from easy access to an increased number of channels, with enhanced picture and sound quality synonymous with digital television at a price they can afford.

Mrs. Elizabeth Amkpa, General Manager of GOtv says that the brand provides great family entertainment at a prize that everyone can afford: “GOtv is the best value for money pay television offering on DTT in Nigeria and it comes with a broad selection of local channels made in Africa for Africans “

She says that GOtv is delivered to homes in Nigerian via the use of the latest DVB-T2 technology which guarantees a one-off migration to the digital age: “With the use of DVB-T2 technology, GOtv gives subscribers a dramatic improvement on the dividend of terrestrial frequencies. With GOtv, Nigerians can experience the digital television revolution in the comfort of their homes because GOtv delivers a selection of exciting channels in great picture and sound quality.”

GOtv service is offered via two bouquets - GOtv Plus, which has a total of 35 channels and GOtv, which has a total of 27 world-class local and international channels. At launch in Owerri, the Complete GOtv System would be available at a special introductory price inclusive of three months GOtv Plus subscription in addition to a GOtenna (outdoor antenna).

Subscribers are encouraged to make use of the outside antennae: “We encourage subscribers to take advantage of the GOtenna that is provided to ensure increased signal strength and better protection against mobile phone and car interference,” urged Mrs. Amkpa, adding, “with GOtenna customers should expect uninterrupted viewing and excellent picture quality, especially in areas where the signal is too low for indoor antenna reception.”

As a digital pay television service designed to cater for all television households in Nigeria, GOtv was launched, last year, by Details Nigeria in association with MultiChoice Nigeria to ensure that great affordable digital TV is accessible to everyone. The new television device is in line with the on-going transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting. It is codenamed Digital Terrestrial Television (or Transmission), DTT.

It refers to the broadcasting of terrestrial television in a digital format. Currently, terrestrial broadcasting in most African countries is in an analogue format. Most countries are in the process of planning and implementing the transition from analogue to digital television.

Terrestrial television uses a network of transmission towers to relay the signal across the country. Each transmission tower has a specific area of coverage, and it is the network of coverage that provides television signals across the country. The broadcast signal is sent to the various towers and if you are within the area covered by a tower, then you will be able to receive the broadcast services via a terrestrial aerial (GOtenna), which is usually placed on your roof or on your television set (depending on how strong the signal that you are receiving is). The technology is an improvement over TV signal transmission via satellite known as DTH (Direct-to-Home) service.

Since 2007 when campaign for digitization commenced in Nigeria, two key players: GOtv and StarTime have surfaced to experiment the new global trend institutionalized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Both platforms are largely run by private enterprises, except that StarTime is in collaboration with Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

Globally, June 17, 2015 has been fixed as deadline for all countries of the world to perfect their switch-over from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting. Nigeria’s march towards this deadline has been fraught with policy delay and lack of commitment on the part of government functionaries.

Initially, June 17, 2012 was set aside as switch-over date in Nigeria, and to accomplish this, a Presidential Advisory Committee on Transition from Analogue to Digital Broadcasting was inaugurated in 2008; the committee submitted its report in June 2009, but nothing happened on the report until April 2012 when federal government came up with what it tagged ‘white paper’ that was expected to lay out policies that would drive the digitization process. It took another eight months, December 20, 2012 precisely, before the team that would drive the policies enunciated in the White Paper was set up. A new date of January 17, 2015 has since been set up as new deadline to wrap up the digitization in Nigeria.