EutelSat boss Christoph Limmer
What can African countries in general and Nigeria in particular, do to meet up with the digital switch-over?
As you know, digital migration is something that has been around for more than a decade. I remember I did my first workshop on digital migration where we started discussing with private companies as well as governments, how satellite and terrestrial infrastructure can be combined to achieve a smoother, more cost-effective transmission based on some experiences that we had from other regions of the world. We are here ten years later; we still face some challenges on digital migration especially in Africa and some parts of America. We haven't made too much progress; most of the digital migration initiatives that we see on the continent are driven by private companies like Startimes, Multichoice etc. but overall, the continent is still far behind the target. Africa is far behind and Eutelsat is very experienced in spotting government as well as private companies in rollout on digital migration in the continent, we have a lot of experience to help and to foster digital migration.
What can African countries do to meet the deadline on digital migration this time around?
I think at the end of the day African countries have to think about the combination of infrastructure; there are countries in Africa that are thinking about it already.
If you combine infrastructures, terrestrial, mobile, satellite, you can be faster in achieving the objectives of digital migration. Also, it will reach everyone in the country which is also one of the objectives. When you switch off TV signals, you have to make sure that not only essential population receive TV programmes, because terrestrial networks haven't been put in place. To sum it, I think if countries focus on combining different infrastructures, digital migration can be achieved faster and in a cost-effective way.
Beyond the infrastructures, most African countries blame lack of funding and regulation as two key factors dragging them behind. How can they overcome these?
I agree again that digital migration is a very costly exercise because the networks need to be operated. I think every country has its budget for different projects and I believe that the budget of the country can be used in a different way instead of trying to operate terrestrial infrastructure only which is just a costly phase. I believe that by combining infrastructures, it saves them a lot of money and allows them to roll out a bit faster.
On the other hand, when you talk about regulating issues, I also don't believe that this is the main reason why digital migration has been put back in the African continent.
With your vast experience travelling around Africa and meeting with regulators and governments, why have African governments failed to combine both satellite and terrestrial?
We have to look at it region by region because there are African countries governments that are using satellite already. Private companies start with digital terrestrial. Look at Startimes for example; they have been here for a while. It is a private initiative but they also get funding from the government. In Africa, private companies started first; whereas in Europe, the government started first then private companies compliment them.
The question is: how do we close the remaining gap? Because in all the markets where the private companies are active on the terrestrial side, you don't have 100 percent coverage. Startimes, Multichoice and others have dual offer; they offer both digital and satellite. By having these two offers, they guarantee for themselves that anyone in the country can receive an offer from Startimes, Multichoice etc. because its either you are on satellite or on terrestrial and whichever one you are, you can choose between one of the two. But, these offers very often lack national channels. In addition to that, it is always a paid-for service (channels only) which in most cases is not in the interest of the government because public TV is expected to be viewed for free. The remaining gap to be covered is how to provide the people that are enjoying the national, private and public channels in that country without paying for it; that needs to be solved.
What is the average duration of complete digital switch-over?
It depends really on the size of the country, how quickly you can upgrade the networks and then switch over. For example, it took 6 years in Italy, 5 years in Germany; I would say it depends on the country size and its geographical challenges, but between one to five year or thereabout, it should be completed. There are countries in Europe which are small in size; it took them only six months. A country like Nigeria which is huge can take years.
With your experience in Kenya, Zimbabwe and so on what are the challenges for broadcast operators who will need to migrate their own analogue infrastructures to digital?
I guess if you look at the opportunities, it will allow channels that are only regional to become nationwide. Also, thinking about advertising revenue, there is more competition among the channels, as revenue will increase because smaller channels which do not have access to the revenue will now have access to it.
I would say there are opportunities and challenges that digital migration will bring. Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa with a lot of channels; there aren't many markets across Africa and digital migration allows these channels to operate across nations.
How much can African countries like Nigeria save by adopting satellite for DSO projects?
I don't know how much the Nigerian government has planned to spend for acquiring terrestrial networks so it is a difficult question for me to answer. I could only make assumptions which I don't want to do. Again, maybe if you have mor
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
EutelSat boss Christoph Limmer
