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Pay TV platforms, DSTV/GOTV and StarTimes may be shut down in Nigeria by June 2019 when their licenses expire.
The Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation(NBC), Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, on Thursday said that as from 2019, the pay TV companies must operate in line with the government’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) White Paper.
The regulatory body has advised the Pay TV operators to begin discussions with signal distributors, Pinnacle Communications and ITS on how to keep functioning in Nigeria after 2019.
“NBC has also informed the pay DTT operators, GOTV and NTA/STAR TIMES, to begin discussions with the two signal distributors, ITS and Pinnacle Communications”, Kawu said.
“This is because, in line with the Government White Paper on the Transition from Analogue to Digital Broadcasting, after June 2019, these pay DTT operators would no longer be licensed to operate as both content providers and signal distributors”.