Govt to curb monopoly with pay-as-you-go policy
By Oghale Mafuru
In a bid to curb monopolistic tendency in the cable TV sector and to make the services affordable to subscribers, the House of Representatives approved the pay-as-you-go model and a price reduction for DStv and other cable TV operators in the country.
The House of Representatives, while considering the recommendation by the Ad-hoc Committee on Non-Implementation of Pay-As-You-Go, noted that the new policy will put a lid on monopoly as it will encourage healthy competition in the broadcast industry.
The House further noted with displeasure that the visible absence of competitors in the industry was tacit approval of monopoly by the present operators and called for urgent and timely application of government regulatory intervention measures to nip it in the bud.
Responding to the call to adopt the pay as you go model, Multi-choice owner of DStv, says it cannot implement the pay-as-you-go model because it is not feasible in the country.
Speaking before the ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, said DStv does not have the technology to pause and resume payment plans and that payment plans for pay TV around the world are fixed.
A recent report stated that the South Africa-based pay TV operator MultiChoice surpassed the 20 million subscriber milestone at the end of Q3 after adding 1.2 million 90-day active subscribers in the year 2020.
Reports have shown that the company currently controls more than 70% of the Nigerian market, despite sustained competition from rivals.
The company corroborated this report on its website stating that “More than 70% of Nigerians enjoy content in their mother tongues through our Africa Magic Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa channels while interacting with MultiChoice Nigeria through multiple touch points through our Value Chain comprising Dealers, Retailers, Installers and Sabimen”.
Dstv packages is currently between N18,400 to N1,850 with access to over 175 channels and 30 channels respectively while Gotv, another pay TV under Multichoice offers reduced packages for its subscribers between N3,600 and N1,640 to be able to view 75 channels and 47 channels respectively.
On the flip side, in a bid to battle for market share with the cable TV giant, other cable TV platforms like Startimes and Tstv entered the market with extremely reduced ratings to woo subscribers, especially low-income earners.
Currently Startimes offers access to its services with packages between N2,500 and N900 while Tstv offers subscriptions at N200, N500, N750, N1,500 and N3,000.
In the Nigeria Cable TV sector, Tstv and Startimes offer the cheapest subscription with their target audience within the low- and medium-income class.
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