NBC DG Visits CWG Teleport, applauds free to air satellite TV platform

The Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Mr. Emeka Mba paid a working visit to the corporate head office of Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG) in Lagos recently. The DG used the occasion of the visit to praise the promoters of the platform.

The visit afforded the NBC the opportunity of inspecting CWG’s satellite facility that will serve as the support base for the soon to be launched SES digital TV platform.

The SES digital TY platform is a new digital television platform that will provide access to a greater number of stations to households in Nigeria and across West Africa, at a relatively low cost, on the SES’s ASTRA 2F satellite, at 28.2 degrees east, transmission.

According to the, Head, Pre-sales CWG, Mr. Gbenga Odegbami, who gave an overview of CWG’s history of innovation and service excellence said integrated ICT solutions that add value to the operations of diverse clientele, using highly skilled and well-motivated workforce has been the driven force of the IT company from inception.

According to him, “the CWG/SES platform, beyond being a business idea, is our social impact investment contribution to ensure that none of the 27 million households in Nigeria are left out in the digital TV switchover. He spoke further: “Firstly, visual content will be made available to millions of households at no cost, through a Free to Air (FTA) medium. Secondly, we are offering a platform that will enable broadcasters deliver their content to a broader audience cost-effectively.

Most importantly, our platform offers the nation the opportunity of meeting the core requirements needed to beat the ITU transition to digital broadcasting deadline”, he assured.

“At inception, CWG was basically an IT infrastructure sales firm. The group has since evolved into a Pan-African ICT Powerhouse, with focus on enabling businesses through strategic partnerships with world-class organizations and OEMs.

CWG recently innovated her business model to be based on Subscription and Cloud Computing under an umbrella aptly tagged CWG2.0. Explaining the business concept, Odegbami said that “CWG 2.0 is a cloud based subscription business model birthed and driven by the quest to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) grow and make notable social impact.

This includes an e-commerce platform that allows shop owners open their own virtual stores online; and SMERP, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution built to assist business owners manage their Accounting and Financial Record Keeping”. “Our strategic collaboration with SES Astra, a foremost global satellite company to bring the first Direct to Home digital TV is an integral part of our CWG 2.0 vision.

The partnership entails SES providing space segment, using their ASTRA 2F satellite, at 28.2 degrees East, while CWG will manage the teleport services required to project the signals to viewers, using high operational standards”, he added. Addressing the delegation, Founder and Chief Executive Officer CWG; Mr. Austin Okere, commended the NBC for its efforts in ensuring that the nation beats the ITU June 17 deadline for migration to digital TV broadcasting.

In response, Mba praised CWG’s vision in introducing a free to air DTH TV to the Nigerian broadcasting climate.

According to him, “the idea of a free to air satellite TV platform is novel to the TV experience of average Nigerians. Its coverage capacity will be instrumental in our quest to take quality broadcasting to every corner of the nation.

More so, it will allow indigenous stations compete competently and affordably with regional and global ones, in terms of picture and content quality. I assure you that NBC will provide the necessary support CWG requires to make this project a success”, he added.