There is no doubt that devaluation of the naira have posed more challenges to brand handlers, and this is not unconnected with the rationale behind the new tariff of DStv. Though, the management of the cable TV service provider (DSTV) has come out to justify the reason for the increase, patrons of the brand seem not to be comfortable with development.
Economic Confidential check revealed that, MultiChoice has defended the latest DStv tariff increase in the country, saying the company has taken into account many factors.
Such factors, it said, include, ‘the impact on the subscriber, current inflation, and efficiencies affected within the company that may offset the necessity for a price increase. The company also said that the increase in DStv tariffs was not only in Nigeria, but also in every country where MultiChoice has its operations.
The increment is the same across other DStv packages/bouquet and between five and 10 per cent increase, but comes with Shorts TV, Ginx TV and Eurochannel as additional channels.
The Public Relations Manager at MultiChoice Nigeria, Ms. Caroline Oghuma, in an earlier statement also justified the new tariff increase when she said, ‘MultiChoice implements annual subscription price increase in all its operating countries, however, a price increase was not implemented in Nigeria last year.’
‘We would like to reassure our subscribers of our best intentions and reaffirm our commitment to Nigeria, which is clearly demonstrated through our continuous investments in the country,’ the statement said.
According to the company, the price increase will set the DStv premium from $77 per month to $81. This will take the naira equivalent from N11, 650 to N13, 980.
Nigerians React
As a result, Nigerians started WhatsApp, Facebook and BlackBerry mobilisation of their folks to boycott the services of the South African company over what they call exploitative tariffs.
In a broadcast on the WhatsApp by a former chairperson of Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Mrs Nkechi Ali-Balogun, Nigerians were urged to boycott the platform. The message reads: “DSTV Enough Is Enough!! Fellow Nigerians, let’s ALL boycott DSTV & GoTv services of MultiChoice Nig Ltd from April 1st 2015 for their planned & exploitative tariff increase which they want to FOIST on the over 2 million subscribers they have in Nigeria on April 1st 2015.”
“Enough is ENOUGH! Nigerians will no longer tolerate this! We will no longer tolerate the lack of Pay-as-you-Watch services they offer in South Africa & other countries but in Nigeria they keep our accounts running even when we travel & there is no-one at home to utilise the service even though they know these countries have less subscribers/population than Nigeria.
“They must implement PAY-AS-U-WATCH in Nigeria on April 1st & lower tariffs. We insist on it, we are not April Fools! They must make that Pay-as-u-watch service EASY for Nigerians to access with no tricks or long queues to sign up for it. No more substandard decoders!! Their monopolistic exploitative tendencies must end in Nigeria! As the Arab Spring brought change of government in the Middle East, this “DSTV Spring” must bring change, better services & lower prices come April 1st 2015 if we all unite as one! PLEASE re-broadcast this to everyone on your WhatsApp, BBm & WeChat contact list, Tweet it, post it on your FB Status till our VOICE is heard & heeded to in their South African Head Office & this is done, Change Must Come! DSTV Enough is enough!
Recent Xenophobic attacks in South Africa the parent country of DStv seems to have added more salt to the injury. Before the incident, a group in Nigeria secured a court injunction against the fee hike, which was ignored and now that foreigners are being attacked by South Africans including Nigerians, people are beginning to demand that terms of South African investment in Nigeria should be reviewed.
Analysts expressed the belief that now is not the appropriate time for such price increases especially with the challenge that Nigerian economy is facing which is directly telling on the lives of the citizens out of whom about two million people is said to be DStv subscribers.
In South Africa, according to Economic Confidential findings, DSV operates pay as you go, which implies that a subscriber’s money runs only when he tunes into a channel. But the case is not like that in Nigeria, where a subscriber’s money runs even when he is not running the system. The findings also shows that the exploitation is not restricted to the Cable TV service providers alone as the same thing was reported to have happened in the telecommunication industry when MTN Nigeria initially insisted that it can’t operate pay as you go until another company entered the scene and made the impossibility possible.
