Moves to transform broadcasting/telecom in Ghana
Bizvis Africa Limited and NGA Novum AB are set to hold a high-profile conference on the transformation of the media and telecommunications industry in Africa.
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The conference, which has been dubbed “Arena 2015”, is scheduled for March 3-4, 2015, in Accra on the theme, “Empowering the future of broadcasting and telecom in Africa.”
Some of the speakers who will address the conference are Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah; the Director General of National Communications Authority, Ghana, Mr Paarock Van Percy; Chairman of Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Igeme Nathan Nabeta; and the Director of National Broadcasting Commission, Nigeria, Mr Emeka Mba.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NGA Novum AB, Mr Joe Frans, said the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) decision that all terrestrial television (TV) broadcasts in Africa should be changed from analogue to digital this year had intensified the pressure on many countries across the continent.
He said it would have broad implications on the industry, as well as to every TV viewer.
“The up side is that it will set a completely new and dynamic playing field for all. But there are also pitfalls and the name of the game is to avoid those and pick the cherries,” he said.
The CEO of Bizvis Africa Ltd also added that the conference would make participants understand where media and telecom was going in Africa and on the global stage.
He said the conference would host international experts, leaders of the industry, policy makers, authorities, and other stakeholders who want to know what is going on in media and telecom in Ghana, Africa, and the rest of the World.
“In disruptive times like this, there is a need for understanding and Arena 2015 is the one-stop shop for getting on top of what is happening, who will take the lead and who will be left behind, by unisales" href="#">how to make money
in digital media, and how to get compelling content”, he said.
It was agreed in 2006 by all countries at the ITU in Geneva that all analogue TV broadcasts over terrestrial networks should be discontinued no later than 2015.
However, this has turned to be a challenge to many countries in Africa, including Ghana which is yet to find its feet as far as preparation towards the migration to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) is concerned.
Ghana and many other African countries are expected to comply with this obligation because the whole country is expected to switch over to digital TV by the set date, a challenge Arena 2015 is expected to focus on during the conference.