African Union of Broadcasting applauds Nigeria’s Communications Satellite Agency

The African Union of Broadcasting, AUB, has applauded the performance of the Nigeria Communications Satellite, NIGCOMSAT Ltd in the area of quality delivery in satellite services.

The Director General of Nigerian Television Authority, Mr. Salihu Abdulhamid Dembos gave the commendation when he led a visiting delegation of the AUB on a facility tour to NigComSat in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

The African Union of Broadcasting is a professional body composed of the national radio and television organizations of African states.

Mr. Dembos said NTA  since its migration to the Nigerian Communications Satellite remains the best in the history of the authority.

As the Director General of the Nigerian Television Authority, I’m speaking from experience.

“Before now, NTA was a client of foreign satellite service providers, but in recent years “we have migrated to NIGCOMSAT

“I can attest and tell you without any doubt that the services rendered by NigComsat is one of the best since the history of Nigerian Television Authority,” he said.

He disclosed that the reason why NigComsat was chosen out of the various agencies in Nigeria is the attestation to the fact that NIGCOMSAT’s performance exceeds expectations.

The NTA Boss also urged African countries to leverage the great resources and services rendered by the NigComsat as to enhance digital broadcasting in the continent.

“So for the delegation, this is an opportunity to interact with the management of NigComsat and perhaps an opportunity for you to leverage the viability and availability of this satellite company in Nigeria which is the pride of Africa.”

He also appreciated the management of NigComsat for their hospitality in hosting the AUB delegation.

In his welcome remarks, the Managing Director, Nigeria Communications Satellite, NIGCOMSAT Ltd, Mr Tukur Lawal, represented by the Executive Director and Administration, Hadi Mohammed said the AUB’s presence signifies a bold booster in the broadcasting eco-system and to NIGCOMSAT Ltd as an enabler of the broadcasting digital industry in the country and Africa at large.

He said in the last three days, NIGCOMSAT Ltd has followed with keen interest, activities in the country and a quest for the broadcasting industry to focus more on what is happening in the digital space as well as to earn enough resources to sustain operations through the use of pictures and videos.

Mr Lawal while highlighting some of the achievements of NIGCOMSAT,  affirmed that the company has the capacity and resources to provide cutting-edge services across Africa and beyond

“You know that you are now in the right place. We have over 50 Direct-To-Home channels on our (DTH) Platform and I wish to inform you that broadcasters here at home have trusted us to deliver a wide range of media content to their customer’s homes. Our platforms also provide free-to-air, free-to-view and Pay TV channels as well as video-on-demand.

“We have two Direct-To-Home (DTH) licensees and about twenty-nine (29) Direct Satellite Broadcasting (DSB) licenses and jointly transmit channels over NIGCOMSAT-1R.

“We have contributions from Egypt, Kenya and we welcome the same from other African countries on the NigComSat 18 satellite,“ Lawal explained

He urged African countries to harness the opportunities offered by the Fourth Industrial Revolution era.

“It is an undeniable fact that the future belongs to broadcasting, so Africa must rise to the occasion and be counted amongst those that would benefit in this digital age.

“We have the available resources here to give you that edge,“ he assured.

In a presentation titled “The Way Forward for Global Patronage”, the Group Head, Satellite Broadcasting and Broadband Company,  Nnaemego Obior, explained that NIGCOMSAT Satellite is particularly suited for broadcast service delivery which covers a wide geographical area. It is the most cost-effective means of delivering broadcast signals to homes.

“We operate a Digital Head-end (DHE) platform for helping broadcasters, content producers, content aggregators, and Pay TV operators to reach millions in sub-Saharan Africa through communication satellite said NIGCOMSAT has invested in both ground and space segment to make this an affordable and end-to-end
business solution for players in the broadcast industry.

“We also have resources and expertise to guide you in establishing your business ideas as the case may be,” he added.

The highlight of the visit was the tour around the NIGCOMSAT facility to enable the AUB delegation to have a first-hand experience of the capacity of the facility.

The delegation was in Abuja for one week for a general assembly, which is the 14th Edition.

The AUB is a public broadcasting union that cut across the whole of Africa.