House of Reps probes DSTV, others over tariff hike

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Sequel to the inauguration of an ad-hoc committee that was saddled with the responsibility to investigate the hike of subscription rates by Multichoice and other cable television service providers, by the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the House of Representatives have reportedly begun an investigation of DSTV.

Speaking at the investigative hearing on Thursday, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Unyime Idem, explained that the National Broadcasting Commission was summoned by the house in order to hear from them, the reason why DSTV and other cable television service providers in Nigeria are hiking their subscription rates for Nigerians.

Hon. Idem, explained further that the hearing became imperative due to the service provider’s refusal to implement the ‘pay as you view’ scheme that is being proposed by the house.

He said, ”We want to hear from you and your team, how the industry can be properly managed so that beneficiaries who are Nigerians can smile at the end of the day. I am sure you must have been hearing of the yearnings of Nigerians for years now, who are the subscribers to these services, that they are not happy with the current services they are getting from the providers.

”They have been crying on a daily basis that they are not satisfied with the services they are getting from the providers in terms of high charges, price hike and, most importantly, considering what is obtainable in other countries of the world, that is pay-as you-view offer that other countries are giving to their subscribers.”

The acting NBC Director General, Armstrong Idacha, while responding to questions directed to him during the hearing, agreed that the issue had been contentious over the years.

He said, ”The concept is easy to implement on mobile telephone with the use of data, while it is impossible to do same on the Pay TV service provider who subscribed to broadcasting live programmes at the International market. The challenge at hand was that the contents acquired by Multichoice at the international market was based on projected or assumed subscribers, and the technology will help in building content for signal distribution platform since it’s continuous live broadcast”.

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