“It’s just eight months to February 2009, yet I can’t see what we are doing about this impending reality that technology has brought to us once again; a reality we can’t do without.”

“What reality, my friend? You are always dreaming; yet you seem to always have this uncanny attitude of calling your dreams reality. So, in which planet are you dreaming this evening?”

“At least I can dream; that means I can imagine, and that means I can see reality. The likes of you are never in the picture, never in touch with the times. So, you mean you don’t even know the significance of February 2009? And you call yourself an enlightened person; you call yourself a technology savvy person. Don’t worry; when your wife and children call for your head over dinner, you will realise how significant February 2009 is.”

“My wife and children? My head over dinner? What are you talking about? What has my family got to do with all this your balderdash? Look, my friend, leave my family out of your day-dreaming.”

“When was the last time you watched television?”

“That’s an insulting question. I watch television every evening; at least I watch and listen to news. Now, what has that got to do with my family or your dreams, Mr. Soothsayer?”

“Well, it’s got everything to do with it. Yes, I know, in fact, I appreciate you watch television. After all, how else would you have been able to describe with such accuracy all the details of the recent Champions League Finals in Moscow between Chelsea and Manchester United; how you almost suffered a heart attack when Christiano Ronaldo, your ‘football prodigy’ lost the penalty; yet how relieved you were when, to quote you “Man U miraculously recovered and won the cup.” That’s precisely why I’m worried for you; although I’m not so worried for you for your own sake as I am over what your wife and kids will do to you when February 2009 comes and you are yet to move with the times.”

“I have warned you to leave my family out of your day-dreaming episodes.”

“My friend, I am trying to save you from yourself; can’t you see? Or is it the keg of palm wine or bottle of beer I will demand that you are afraid of? So, you do not know the significance of February 17, 2009 in the history of broadcasting generally?”

‘February 17, 2009; history of broadcasting generally; what has all this got to do with me or anyone for that matter? February 17 is neither my wife’s birthday nor our wedding anniversary. And, of my three children, none was born on that date. So, what’s my own with February 17, and in particular next year’s February 17? I don’t get the drift; I’m sure you are up to some mischief.”

“Okay dummy, since your head is so full of nothing, let me help you before you waste all my useful time, because I have things to do this evening. Haven’t you heard of digital broadcasting? February 17, 2009 is the terminal date for analogue broadcasting. On that day, digital broadcasting will come into full force, and analogue broadcasting, which is predominant in many parts of the world, including your country, Nigeria, will cease to be. Do you hear that now?”

Well, thanks for the information. But mark you Nigeria is also your country, not mine alone. Anyway, in all honesty I never heard about it. But how does that affect my family?

“You see? Now you are talking. Yes, your family in particular. I know you love watching television; but you hardly spend one-third the time your wife or any of your kids spends watching television. So, if you do not migrate to digital, after that date, your current set will no longer receive signals, and you can picture the rest.”

“Sounds interesting. But what has our TV receiver got to do with that? After all, the television broadcasting stations will change to digital; it is they who should worry not the viewers or radio listeners. It should not be our problem.”

“It is going to be your problem as well. Look at it this way; if the stations migrate to digital, which they must, and beam out signals, which they will, you will be the loser as your current analogue terminal will not receive the signals, will not decode them to give you pictures or sound. So, ask yourself, who will lose when that happens? You will not see your dear Christiano Ronaldo, whether or not he misses a penalty.”

“But can’t government do something to protect the consumer? Can you imagine how many millions of television sets and radio terminals that are in this country that are still analogue? That’s a huge number. Government must do something.”

“I think government is doing something already, just that you are yet to hear about it.”

“That means they are not doing enough. Don’t we have an agency responsible for the broadcast industry in this country? What are they doing about this? Because no one seems to know anything about this new phenomenon you have just described.”

“In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission is responsible for all broadcast issues; it has a consumer bureau, and that unit has been creating awareness for about a couple of years already. The U.S. have a federal law that requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analogue format and broadcast only in digital format. Congress mandated the conversion to all-digital television broadcasting, also known as the digital television (DTV) transition, because all-digital broadcasting will free up frequencies for public safety communications (such as police, fire, and emergency rescue). And also, digital is a more efficient transmission technology that allows broadcast stations to offer improved picture and sound quality, as well as offer more programming options for consumers through multiple broadcast streams (multicasting). In addition, some of the freed up frequencies will be used for advanced commercial wireless services for consumers.”

“You have come again with your America this and America that. I am asking you to tell me what the situation is or will be in Nigeria; that’s what concerns me and my family directly.”

“Well, now you brought in your family yourself, thanks for recognising that. Here we have the National Broadcasting Commission; but I’m not sure we have an enabling law like Congress has mandated in the U.S. So, as much as the commission would like to flex muscles to help broadcasters and the public to come to the point to which they must all come, it is still a bit powerless until there is a federal law to that effect.”

“Federal law my foot. The NBC is empowered by a law, isn’t it? Let the commission expand its scope and come to the people’s rescue. But, you confuse me. Can you tell me more about this digital broadcasting?”

“Do you remember the gramophone? It gave way, didn’t it? Then came those sets you and I saw as kids, turn-tables, and then changers, and you know what record plates we used to play on them? Can you equate those with the ease of the compact disc and its player today? Already, you also know of digital video disc; you can see the progression. So, digital broadcasting was just a natural progression.”

“That’s not what I mean. What does digital broadcasting mean?”

“If you want the technical explanation, I’ll say Digital television (DTV) is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by means of discrete (digital) signals, in contrast to the analogue signals used by analogue TV. It was introduced in the late 1990s, and the technology appealed to the television broadcasting business and consumer electronics industries as offering new financial opportunities.”

“You speak only of television; what of radio? Is there also digital radio?”

“Of course, yes. That’s called Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), also known as Eureka 147. It is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format. The DAB standard was designed in the 1980s, and receivers have been available in many countries for several years. Proponents claim the standard offers several benefits over existing analogue FM radio, such as higher-fidelity audio, more stations in the same broadcast spectrum, and increased resistance to noise, multipath, fading, and co-channel interference. However, listening tests carried out by experts in the field of audio have shown that the audio quality on DAB is lower than on FM in the UK, which is the country that accounts for the vast majority of global DAB sales-to-date, due to 98 per cent of stereo stations using a bit rate of 128 kbps with the MP2 audio codec, which is unable to match the audio quality provided by FM.”

“You make me remember Noah Samara of the WorldSpace Satellite fame. So, what shall we do?”

“Not much you can do than be sure any new set you buy now is digital; your old sets will still work for some time, but you have to invest in another tool called set up box. In the U.S. the government has a programme to help fund people get the box till they migrate.”

“But I am not in the US; I am in Nigeria. What shall we do?”

“I need to go now, my friend. Keep thinking about it till we meet again. There is a lot of information I can give you on the topic; but I have to go now. I promise when next we meet, I will tell you more.”

“Will you buy my old TV set? I want to go digital!”