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Nigerian government is making moves to ensure a more favourable tariff for subscribers of PayTV in the country according to sources who should know. Regulatory intervention on a price cap and tariff model expected to be announced soon could see the South African broadcast company- Mutichoice Digital Satellite Television (DSTV) finally implementing the Pay as You Go Tariff (PAYG) plan.
This week in Abuja, the House of Representatives has decided to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate DSTV and other PayTV providers in order to make them to introduce the PAYG model as is the case in DSTV home country: South Africa.
The lawmakers adopted a motion by Unyime Idem (Akwa-Ibom, PDP) and resolved that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) should act within the ambit of its powers “to regulate the ownership, activities or operations of Radio and Television Stations, as well as Direct Broadcast Satellite Service Providers.”
There are over 10 Direct- To-Home Service Providers operating in Nigeria and rendering paid services, according to Idem with DSTV leading the market with almost 12 million subscribers to make its operation in Nigeria the largest in the 50 countries where DSTV operates.
His words: “Nigeria constitutes 40 per cent of DSTV’s global market share, yet over 40 per cent of the citizens do not use a greater part of their paid monthly tariff due to engagements that take them from one location to the other on a daily basis, hence they cannot access the services upon expiration, whether or not they used their previous subscriptions until they renew it for another month.
“The continuous exploitation by Multichoice, owners of DSTV, constitutes economic sabotage against Nigerians as most of them pay for services they do not consume while the company, judging from their average monthly tariff of eight thousand naira, if multiplied by 11.9 million subscribers, makes about 100 billion naira monthly at the expense of its subscribers.”
The legislator want the House to end the exploitation by Multichoice a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
DSTV has insisted in over a decade that it could not implement PAYG plan in Nigeria even though it does in some of its markets. Several court suits by customers and a plethora of petitions at the country’s consumer agency has ensured an unending war for DSTV.
But it appears a worried presidency is set to flex its might and ensure compliance to a more flexible and favourable pricing regime to be implemented by all PayTV operators in the country.
