Victor Ezeja
National Association of Nigerian Students, South-west Zone, has given MultiChoice Nigeria, a seven-day ultimatum to reverse its planned hike on DSTV and GOTV subscription rates.
The student body made this known on Tuesday, in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Adejuwon Olatunji, Deputy Coordinator, Alao John, and Public Relations Officer, Opeoluwa Awoyinfa.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelMultiChoice had on Tuesday sent text messages to its subscribers, announcing an increase of prices on its DSTV and GOTV packages by 17 per cent.
The satelite television service firm stated that the new rates would take effect on May 1, 2023, explaining that the increase was due to rising costs of business operations.
However, NANS opposed the subscription fee hike, saying that the company was unleashing hardship on Nigerians through that. The association accused Multichoice of extorting the people without considering their standard of living.
It also stated that tariffs should be charged on a “pay as you view” basis.
“Today, we are aware that Multi Choice Digital Satellite has increased its tariffs without considering the standard of living of Nigerians. We have also waited for long to see if this same company will dance to the music of Nigerians who have been clamouring for ‘pay-as-you-view’ tariff, but the reverse is the case,” NANS statement read in part.
“This is the time to call on the National Broadcasting Commission to go back to the Commission’s Act to regulate the ownership, activities and operations of Direct Broadcast Satellite Service Providers. DSTV is one of the leading direct-to-home service providers in Nigeria since its inception of operation as far back as 1995 and has also made a lot of profit with over 25 million subscribers which is the largest market for its operations.
“We want the Federal Government to stampede their proposed plan in tariffs increment and also force them to implement the pay-as-you-view system. We are aware that DSTV operates a system of pay-as-you-go tariffs in other countries,” NANS stated.
It further stated that Nigeria constitutes over 45 per cent of DSTV global market share, and therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Minister of Communication to “break the sporting right of MultiChoice” and provide an alternative service provider in the country, so that “Nigerians can stop being exploited on a daily basis.”
“We hereby give seven days ultimatum to MultiChoice Digital Satellite Television to reverse the plan of increasing the tariffs and also yield to the call of Nigerians by implementing pay-as-you-view tariffs, or else, we shall be left with no other option but to lock up all offices of DSTV until our demands are met which is the mind of all Nigerians,” NANS declared.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
