The resuscitation of the DSO is commendable
After missing several deadlines, Nigeria has once again rekindled the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project to align the country with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) requirements. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced that the project is to be launched nationwide on 17 June 2026, with 100 free television channels for Nigerian subscribers as additional benefit of the roll out. The resuscitation of the DSO is a laudable development, though the scheme has failed to deliver on any of the hyped benefits to the country after all the fanfare and expectations that greeted its pilot launch in Jos, Plateau State, on 30 April 2016.
The projection that $1 billion will be unlocked from spectrum has been blighted by logistical hiccups and other economic losses and accumulated debts to service providers, caused by delays in the completion of the DSO. Apart from erratic transition progress, regulatory bottlenecks and funding gaps have mitigated the auctioning of the 700/800 MHz bands to mobile operators. The inability of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to auction some 5G spectrum slots resulted in its failure to meet its revenue targets. Experts continue to warn that the groundswell of constraints in meeting migration deadlines could cause Nigeria massive loss of revenue totaling N9.3 trillion, putting the sub-Saharan Africa at risk of losing thousands of jobs.
