Minister launches project to provide satellite TV for 1,000 villages
The Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has launched the 1,000 Villages Satellite TV
Project, which is part of the Chinese government-sponsored ‘Access to Satellite
TV for 10,000 African Villages Project’.
Launching the project at a ceremony in Kpaduma village, Federal Capital
Territory (FCT), on Monday, the Minister recalled that Chinese President Xi
Jiping announced the ‘Access To Satellite TV For 10,000 African Villages’
during the 2015 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg,
South Africa.
He said under the project, each of the 1,000 carefully-chosen villages in
Nigeria will receive 2 sets of solar powered projector television systems and 1
set of solar 32-inch digital TV integrated terminal system.
Alhaji Mohammed also said 20 recipient families with TV in each village will be
provided with 20 sets of direct broadcast satellite terminal system free of
charge, adding that viewers in each village provided with the projector TV
system will enjoy 21 satellite channels free of charge, while each of the 20
recipient families will have access to 33 satellite TV channels free of charge
for two months.
After the expiration of the two months, he said, viewers can continue to enjoy
access to the 33 channels by paying N900 per month, or enjoy limited access
without payment.
The Minister said the project complements the efforts of the Buhari Administration
at democratizing access to information and entertainment through the Digital Switch
Over (DSO) for television which has now been rolled out in the several states
and the FCT.
He urged the satellite TV implementation agency, StarTimes, to expedite the
installation of the TV satellite system to cover the entire country in order to
give the people opportunity to be informed on the policies and programmes of
the candidates for the various elective positions in the 2019 general
elections.
“The 1,000 villages project could not have come at a better time. In just a
little over one month, Nigerians will be voting in the 2019 general elections.
They need access to information now, more than at any other time, to know about
the over 70 political parties that will be participating in the elections as
well as about their various candidates,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
The Minister commended the Chinese government for the project which, he said,
will undoubtedly strengthen the already very cordial China-Nigeria relations.
In his remarks, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Zhou Pingjian, who
pledged the commitment of China to implementing the outcome of the FOCAC, said
Nigeria and China are working closely to ensure access to information through
television and satellite technology.
“StarTimes is now working to ensure access and besides access, China and
Nigeria are also working very closely on TV and on Satellite. We are building
the Made-in-Nigeria TV sets,” he said.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of StarTimes, Mr. Justin Zhang, said
the implementation of the project will create more jobs as Nigerians across the
1,000 villages have been trained on how to install, recharge and operate the
Satellite TV system.
