Broadcasting
Vacant TV Spectrum Targeted for Affordable Rural Wi-Fi
Parts of the wireless spectrum that have been abandoned or left unused by television (TV) broadcasters as they increasingly move to digital transmission may provide a faster and cheaper way to beam the Internet to remote rural areas and roll out a new generation of ‘super Wi-Fi’ in cities.
Technology giants such as Microsoft and Google are pushing for governments around the world to open up this ‘white space’, hoping that it will boost innovation in Internet delivery, according to William Webb, the chief technology officer at one such start-up offering the necessary technology, Neul, in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
A recent example is a pilot initiative in Kenya that aims to boost Internet access in rural areas.
The Mawingu project ? named after the Swahili word for cloud ? is part of an initiative by Microsoft and a global telecommunications provider, Indigo Telecom, designed to provide affordable, high-speed wireless Internet access using former TV frequencies, old-fashioned antennas and solar-powered base stations.
Affordable rural coverage
Peter Henderson, Indigo Telecom’s chairman, told SciDev.Net that Kenya will be the first African country to benefit from the Wi-Fi initiative, which aims to deliver affordable coverage to its 30 million rural inhabitants.
“For example, a person will pay US$1.20 a week to access the Internet, thus allowing rural Kenyans to maximise their collective learning potential in a sustainable, socially responsible manner,” he says.
As part of the project, smart phones and computers with Microsoft programmes will also be donated by Microsoft and non-governmental to schools, hospitals and other social centers and Indigo Telecom will train and equip field personnel and organise workshops to help roll it out to the communities.
Shem Ochuodho, a Kenyan information and communications technology expert who is currently advising the South Sudanese government, said: “Reusing released frequencies as a national resource where justified is a commendable feat”.
But he says that the Kenyan government and regulatory authority the Communications Commission of Kenya, need to come up with a comprehensive plan to reassign unused frequencies.
If successful, Ochuodho explains, the project will benefit smartphone users including tourists who may want to access broadband in areas still not yet served by mobile broadband.
Webb said: “TV white space has been talked about for about a decade now. And there have been many people suggesting many different kinds of applications for it.”
The main uses suggested are extending rural internet access and setting up city-wide wireless networks — wireless signals sent through these frequency bands would go much further than existing wifi, potentially covering a whole city.
The concept of using this part of the spectrum has moved from discussion at US universities and think-tanks to big companies, which have been lobbying around the world for national regulators to open it up, he says.
Cheaper system
The key advantage is that the TV spectrum tends to be at lower frequencies than other existing available frequencies and these travel further than those used for conventional Wi-Fi or cellular mobile phone networks, meaning that fewer base stations are needed.
“That just helps with the economics,” Webb says. To provide Wi-Fi to rural areas requires a base station to send out signals and some kind of radio device in each home, he says.
“Using TV white space is not a paradigm shift; it just improves the economics a bit compared with other systems, [but] maybe that improvement is enough to tip the balance in a number of different areas,” Webb says.
Instead of the frequencies between 400 and 800 megahertz being reserved for TV broadcasters that pay a lot of money for exclusive use, companies are pushing for them to be unlicensed, he says. Examples of unlicensed frequencies are the WiFi and Bluetooth; they are free but you have to share them with other users.
TV white space is “the biggest game in town at the moment in the unlicensed area”, Webb says, and some companies believe this is where a lot of innovation could be unleashed.
Some governments, such as the United States, have already opened up their white space, with others, such as Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom, considering doing so, he said.
“There’s a lot of interest in the Asia-Pacific region — Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand — those kinds of countries have all agreed to trials,” Webb said.
Spread of ideas
Access to white space may follow what happened with mobile phone frequencies, he says, which started off in a few European countries and rapidly spread around the world as other regulators saw what was happening.
Webb estimated that, by 2016, the vast majority of countries will allow some form of access to white space frequencies to Internet providers.
White space may also benefit urban Internet users by offering an alternative to 3G and 4G mobile broadband networks.
Big Internet companies are likely to “be looking to see if they can have broadband systems for cities that can compete with or be an alternative to the 3G and 4G systems as to some degree Wi-Fi already is”, Webb says.
“If you can find a Wi-Fi signal in a coffee shop, you’ll tend to use that rather than 3G or 4G,” he says. White space may enable that Wi-Fi to be expanded to cover entire cities.
The main barrier to opening up white space is concern about interference with TV signals and, given that there is no immediate benefit to broadcasters, they are “naturally going to be very cautious and inclined to oppose”, he said.
MultiChoice Nigeria has launched a month-long promotional campaign tagged “Open Time”, offering eligible DStv subscribers access to higher viewing packages at no additional cost.
The promotion, which runs from June 1 to June 30, 2026, is aimed at rewarding existing customers, reconnecting subscribers and attracting new users across Nigeria.
Under the initiative, active subscribers on selected lower-tier packages, including Compact and Compact+, will automatically be upgraded to higher viewing tiers, with some customers gaining temporary access to Premium content during the promotional period.
According to the company, eligible subscribers will not be required to register or manually activate the offer, as upgrades will be applied automatically once subscription payments are confirmed.
In a statement announcing the campaign, MultiChoice said the initiative was designed to provide customers with access to a wider range of entertainment content and enhance viewing experiences.
“The Open Time initiative is a simple way for our customers to enjoy more of the stories they love and discover new content across genres, as long as their accounts remain active during the period,” the company stated.
The DStv Premium package, which currently costs N44,500 per month, offers access to more than 160 channels, including sports, movies, documentaries, children’s programming, news and lifestyle content.
MultiChoice said the offer applies to subscribers who maintain active accounts throughout the campaign period.
The company added that the promotion forms part of efforts to enhance customer value by providing broader access to entertainment content, including drama, sports, action and children’s programmes.
To participate, subscribers are required to make payments through approved channels such as the official DStv website, the MyDStv mobile application, USSD banking platforms and authorised payment agents.
The company clarified that all promotional upgrades would automatically expire at the end of June, after which subscribers would revert to their original subscription packages.
Industry analysts say the campaign comes amid increasing competition within Nigeria’s pay television and streaming market, where service providers are introducing incentives and value-added offerings to attract and retain customers.
MultiChoice said the initiative reflects its commitment to delivering quality entertainment and ensuring subscribers enjoy greater value from their subscriptions.
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has said that its planned Digital Switch-Over (DSO) project will create access to Nigeria’s N605.2 billion advertising market for broadcasters and content creators.
Speaking at a press conference, Charles Ebuebu, director-general, NBC, said the project is expected to officially launch nationwide on June 17, 2026, while analogue television broadcasting will completely end by December 31, 2028.
According to him, the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting will help government agencies deliver better television services across Nigeria in a way that is sustainable, reliable, and easier to regulate.
Ebuebu explained that digital broadcasting will allow broadcasters and content creators to earn more revenue because audience data can be measured more accurately.
He also said the project could benefit the economy through the release of valuable 700/800 MHz spectrum, which may generate more than $1 billion from future auctions.
The funds are expected to support digital infrastructure and expand broadband access in rural communities.
NBC added that Nigeria’s creative industry, which contributes about N5 trillion to GDP and supports more than 4.2 million jobs, could benefit from improved content distribution and export opportunities across West Africa using NigComSat-1R.
For consumers, NBC said the FreeTV service will not require monthly subscription payments. Households will only need a small satellite dish and an open-standard DVB-S2 decoder, estimated to cost between N15,000 and N25,000.
Broadcasters were encouraged to join the FreeTV platform and take advantage of an 18-month free carriage period.
However, the Commission noted that there is still an ongoing legal dispute involving local manufacturers over set-top boxes, although officials said this will not stop the national rollout.
On satellite expansion plans, Jane Egerton-Idehen, managing director and CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, said NIGCOMSAT 2A is expected in 2028, while NIGCOMSAT 2B is planned for 2029.
She added that backup arrangements have already been made to ensure uninterrupted service and that migration to the new system will happen gradually across different regions to avoid nationwide disruptions.
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has unveiled a new “Big Picture” strategy aimed at achieving full nationwide Digital Switch-Over (DSO) by December 31, 2028.
DSOis designed to provide Nigerians with superior picture and sound quality while unlocking an estimated N605.2 billion in advertising revenue and generating over $1 billion from digital spectrum auctions.
Charles Ebuebu, director-general of NBC, in a statement issued on Monday, said the revised strategy adopts a converged broadcasting model combining Direct-to-Home (DTH), Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and Internet Protocol (IP) systems to expand access to digital television services nationwide.
The Commission also announced June 17, 2026, as the official national launch date for the renewed rollout, describing the framework as a more practical pathway toward a sustainable and affordable digital broadcasting system after nearly two decades of delays.
Ebuebu, said that the transition is no longer being treated as a competition between technologies but as a unified access solution tailored to Nigeria’s geographic and infrastructure realities.
“The Big Picture strategy recognises convergence as the future of broadcasting and aligns with the 2012 DSO White Paper, which adopted both terrestrial and satellite standards including DVB-T and DVB-S2 technologies,” the statement said.
NBC said the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) would play a central role in national content distribution, particularly in underserved and remote areas where terrestrial infrastructure remains weak.
The Commission cited countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Kenya, South Africa and Morocco as examples of jurisdictions that successfully adopted hybrid digital broadcasting models to accelerate migration from analogue systems.
On affordability, NBC assured Nigerians that the proposed FreeTV platform would remain subscription-free for baseline access, adding that compatible DVB-S2 decoders currently cost between N15,000 and N25,000. It said discussions were ongoing on possible subsidy arrangements and financing options for low-income households.
The regulator also defended its plan to support both local manufacturing and transitional importation of set-top boxes, noting that Nigeria would require millions of devices over several years to complete the migration.
Beyond transmission, NBC disclosed plans to introduce a national audience measurement system under the GARB ratings framework to improve advertising transparency and broadcasting analytics.
It projected that the DSO programme could unlock Nigeria’s estimated N605.2 billion advertising market while also freeing up valuable digital dividend spectrum estimated at over $1 billion.
NBC further said Nigeria’s creative industry, valued at about N5 trillion and employing more than 4.2 million people, stands to benefit from expanded distribution channels and improved content monetisation.
Broadcasters, it added, would enjoy free carriage on the platform for 18 months, alongside wider national reach, indigenous language channels and improved commercial opportunities.
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