Ghana to earn $230m from digital migration

Ghana is expected to earn $230 million from the digital broadcasting industry in line with terrestrial migration, Edward Omane Boamah, Minister of Communications & Media Relations, has disclosed.

Digital migration is expected to reduce to a large extent expenditure, cost of maintaining equipment and improve not only the quality of pictures but quality of sound on the airwaves.

The minister said the analogue to digital terrestrial television network migration was expected to come with a huge demand with the multiplicity of television channels for the creative arts industry in the country.

However, the ministry noted that there would be a clear distinguishing feature since existing broadcasting channels have made it a point to provide quality broadcast on their airwaves.

He said that would make available a minimum quota for local content in the broadcasting industry, adding that otherwise there will be an occurrence of tornados of other foreign culture hitting the airwaves.

“As a result of high spectrum efficiency as associated with the digital broadcasting we are going to free some. This spectrum has been estimated to provide not less than $230 million for Government of Ghana”, he said.

A report on the digital terrestrial migration was recently presented to the minister in a brief meeting on the evaluation of the proposals of over 10 companies to drive the transition. The report focused on the technical feasibility and the financial terms of the companies and gave recommendations to the ministry as well in order to provide the basis for the minister to choose a vendor to be put in charge of the digital migration process.

A committee of five has therefore been appointed by the ministry with the mandate of receiving expressions of interest from a number of companies to do an evaluation and submit an evaluation report on the digital terrestrial television network.

According to Dr Omane Boamah, it was a legal framework to manage and promote broadcasting.

In a brief remark, Dr. Abdul Bassit Bamba, Chairman of the Committee, said the report is the outcome of the evaluation process conducted on the companies.