Mr Charles Ebuebu, Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has commended the innovation and excellence of SLTV, indigenous Nigerian satellite pay television, in ensuring competitive value delivery.
He made the commendation when Dr Ifeanyi Nwafor, Managing Director, Metro Digital Limited, operator of SLTV, and his management team paid him a courtesy visit on Thursday at NBC Headquarters in Abuja.
The visit was to brief the regulatory body on SLTv’s content offerings and innovations, and as well as efforts in ensuring quality and affordable service delivery to subscribers.
According to Ebuebu, as the nation witnessed the launch of the SLTV earlier in the year, the broadcast industry and subscribers are looking forward to experiencing the values it promises.
He lauded the brands commitment to innovation and excellence, and therefore pledged the commission’s unbiased stance in ensuring that ingenuity and competition thrived in the broadcast industry.
‘As a regulator, one of our mandat
es is to encourage competition in the broadcast sector that brings innovation, allows local players to thrive and to build an economy around the broadcast sector.
‘So we are very excited to have SLTV come in as a player in that space with its innovation and brand.
‘In compliance with the rules of the NBC, we will definitely support them in the effort to bring new innovation as a local player in that space.
‘What the NBC can do and will do is to establish a level playing field for all players; there is not going to be discrimination, where you have a major player with different rules.
‘We are going to put a level playing field so that price will come to play, and whatever features you bring, that will be an edge for competition rather than a dominant position.
‘As we speak, we are reviewing our rules and regulations in that space and we are bringing up policies that will open up the industry, allow innovation, services and features to thrive,’ he said.
The NBC helmsman, who received the visitors in compa
ny of his management team, said the commission would be conducting an inspection visit to SLTV office as part of its regulatory functions.
He said the visit was to obtain first-hand information on the newly launched project, assess its operations, and ensure compliance with the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
Earlier in his remark, Nwafor expressed appreciation to NBC for opening space for other players to come into the industry, which was fostering competition and innovation.
‘I have to thank the Federal Government and NBC for the effort they made over the last few years to put regulations in place to end the monopolistic practices of the dominant players.
‘It is based on those amendments and those new regulations that we are able to emerge and have a chance to play in this industry.
‘We believe that the Nigerian market is very big and we believe that our people can do a whole lot and there is a big opportunity for any person that wants to participate in the industry.
‘I want to thank NBC for dealing with s
ome of the issues that have held the industry down for a very long time.
‘I believe this is the dawn of a new age, that going forward, we are going to see a lot of innovation and more players coming into the industry to become more vibrant.
‘In due course, same way our music and movies industries are making waves all over the world, our broadcast industry will also do , not just in Nigeria but all over the world,’ he said.
Nwafor explained that 11 channels out of the 54 channels on SLTV were dedicated to local contents, which satisfies the 20 percent local content requirement by regulation.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria