Nigeria is deepening its transition from analogue to digital broadcasting on Wednesday as FreeTV officially goes live nationwide, marking a major step in expanding access to free television services across the country.
According to a State House statement obtained by Persecondnews on Wednesday, the platform will deliver more than 100 national, regional and state television channels, covering news, entertainment, sports, education and indigenous language programming.
FreeTV forms part of the Digital Switch-Over programme and will be delivered through satellite, terrestrial transmission and a mobile application to ensure broad nationwide access.
Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Charles Ebuebu, described the initiative as a welcome development as its aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda aimed at expanding digital inclusion and strengthening economic opportunities through technology.
“FreeTV speaks directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of Renewed Hope towards expanding access, creating opportunity and ensuring that every Nigerian, regardless of location or income, can benefit from the digital economy, ”he said.
The statement further noted that Nigerians will not need new television sets, as existing devices can access the service using compatible DVB-T2 or DVB-S2 decoders already available in the market.
It added that the initiative will boost Nigeria’s creative economy through production hubs in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano and Benin, creating employment across the broadcast value chain.
The final analogue switch-off remains scheduled for 2028 and citizens have been urged to begin preparing by confirming decoder compatibility ahead of the transition.