Stakeholders To Gotv: You Are Operating Illegal Business; Take Case To N/a, Jona

Stakeholders To GOTv: You’re Operating
Illegal Business; Take Case To N/Assembly,
Jonathan. November 13, 2013
Stakeholders To GOTv: You’re Operating
Illegal Business; Take Case To N/Assembly,
Jonathan
The controversy surrounding the operation
of pay-tv channel, GoTV in Nigeria
continues unabated with some aggrieved
stakeholders in the industry insisting that
the pay-tv channel is not only operating
illegally in the country but also doing so
with the active connivance of the officials of
the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission
(NBC).
Thegazellenews.com can revealed that the
aggrieved stakeholders have vowed to fight
the matter to a logical conclusion using all
available legal means. “We will fight this to
a logical conclusion and we would use all
available legal means to ensure that we get
justice on this matter,” Dawud Abiodun,
one of those who spoke with our
correspondent said.
According to another stakeholder,
Anastacia Onyewu, they are taken the case
to the Minister of Information, Labaran
Maku. “If we don’t get redress from Maku,
we will go to the National Assembly and the
President and if all these fail, we will go to
court,” he said, real anger showing on his
face.
The bone of contention has been whether
or not GOTv can operate Digital Terrestrial
Television (DTT) when it seems it has not
been licenced to do so.
In our earlier report, thegazellenews.com
had reported that going by investigation
based on a petition by the Stakeholders to
the NBC, GOTv was not licenced to operate
DTT in the country.
According to the petition, GOTv has no legal
right to transmit digital broadcasting in
Nigeria using DVB-T technology. The
petitioners through a letter to the NBC
questioned the right of GOTv providing
Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT)
services in Nigeria. They stated that such
services can only be provided for now by
the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) which
is the only organ licenced by the NBC to
provide such service in Nigeria.
Thegazellenews.com’s investigation had
revealed that the stakeholders’ claim may
have been right. The Minister of
Information, Labaran Maku, had cleared
the air after one of the Federal Executive
Council (FEC) meetings. Maku confirmed
that NTA is the only organisation approved
by the Federal Government to provide DTT
service, thus meaning NTA is the public
signal distributor licenced in the country.
Simply put, no DTT licence has been
granted to any other service provider
except the one given to NTA. So the
question of why is GOTv operating and
expanding its service illegally when it
seems it has not been licenced to do so
arises?
For the uninitiated, the Digital Video
Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVBT) offers
Digital Terrestrial Television services while
the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld
(DVBH) offers digital mobile television
services.
Investigation revealed that there is a whole
lot of difference between the two. The
former allows the operator to transmit from
video terrestrial television while the later
only gives room for the operator to provide
services only on handheld devices such
mobile phones, i-phones, i-pad among
others. Since the NTA is the only
organisation legally licenced to provide
terrestrial television services, why is GOTv
doing so illegally?
However, GOTv seems to have favour with
the NBC with the agency declaring that the
pay-tv channel can operate DTT in Nigeria
without any hindrance.
According to the NBC, the pay-tv channel
has every legal right to provide the service
since the parent company of the channel,
Details Nigeria Limited, has upgraded its
licence which allowed the pay-tv company
to provide both mobile and terrestrial
services.
Speaking on the controversy, the Head of
Public Affairs of NBC, Mrs. Maimuna
Jimada, stated that GOTv through Details
Nigeria Limited has licence to operate
Multipoint Multimedia Distribution System
(MMDS) and Digital Video Broadcasting –
Handheld (DVB-H).
Mrs. Jimada stated that “what Details
Nigeria Limited has simply done was to
deploy the Digital Video Broadcasting –
Technology2 (DVB-T2) which allows it to
provide both Digital Video Broadcasting-
Handheld (DVB-H) and Digital Terrestrial
Television (DTT) services”.
She debunked the claim that GOTv was
using understand tactics to ensure that it
remains in the market. “I’m not aware of
any scheming. The company has a licence
that allows it to operate and provide the
services it is providing and I have simply
explained how it attained such status,” she
said.
But some analysts in the industry believed
that the agency is speaking from two sides
of the mouth and indeed
thegazellenews.com can reveal that NBC
has deliberately decided not to speak on
the Minister’s statement that it was only
NTA that has been licenced to provide DTT
services.
According to them, GOTv, aided by the NBC,
is using the inter-connectivity and similarity
between DVBT and DVBH to play a fast one
on the Nigerian government.
“We have found out that GOTv is only
licenced to provide DVBH services but is
using that to provide DTT services to
members of the public illegally. This should
stop and we will fight this to a logical
conclusion. If the NBC is not acting on this,
we will take the matter to the National
Assembly and we may even go to court,”
Nwachukwu Austin, an industry stakeholder
told thegazellenews.com.
Industry watchers believed that there is
need for the Nigerian government through
the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku,
to make a public clarification on the matter.
“The Minster needs to intervene because it
seems the NBC has fallen for the antics of
GOTv. If the Minister has said that the NTA
is only agency licenced to run DTT, then we
need to know when the decision has been
overturned or else it means GOTv is illegal,”
Rasheed Ayinde, an industry watcher said, a
view corroborated by others who spoke
with thegazellenews.com.
As it is, it seems the battle line has just
been drawn on this controversy, we will
continue to keep you updated as events
unfold.
http://
www.thegazellenews.com/2013/11/13/
stakeholders-to-gotv-youre-operating-
illegal-business-take-case-to-nassembly-
jonathan/

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