Why always Multichoice and DSTV? This is the question on the lips of Nigerians who find it difficult to stomach the digital television provider’s penchant for tariff increases. No other service provider has been dragged around in the chambers of the National Assembly, the law courts, media, civil society circles and the open public as Multichoice over its tariff regimes in Nigeria.
For instance, within the past three years, Multichoice has jerked up its tariffs on its DSTV and GoTV platforms a record five times. No other major service provider could match this insensitive propensity. Citing rising costs and inflation, Multichoice imposed a 24 per cent hike on its customers across the various bouquets in March 2022. In 2023 the company increased prices twice – in April (17 per cent) and December after claiming a $72 million operational loss. Barely four months later (May 1, 2024), Multichoice went to town again with over 25 per cent hike. Only last month (March 1, 2025), another increase was imposed on its customers already battered by the harsh economic climate.
For better optics, between March 22, 2022 and March 1, 2025, its DSTV premium bouquet rose more than 100 per cent from N21,000 to N44,000, a trend that was proportionally reflected across the bouquets.
As maddening as this is, Nigerians are further roiled by the undisguised discriminatory attitude of the South Africa-originated company to its service tariffs in its mother country compared with Nigeria. On March 25, 2025, the Broadcast and Digital Media in Africa Convention, which took place in Kampala, Uganda, published an article by Save the Consumers, a frontline consumer rights advocacy group in Nigeria. It was revealed that while Multichoice was imposing a new 21 per cent tariff hike in Nigeria, it offered its South African consumers up to 38 per cent price slash, with new bonus channel add-ons.
Multichoice CEO, Byron Du Plessis, was quoted as saying the reduction was to assist South African households cope with the inflation squeeze. It is interesting to note that, according to the Department of Statistics, South Africa (Statsa, an equivalent of our National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, the annual consumer inflation price in January and February 2025 was 3,2 per cent. This was the very time that Multichoice offered their South African customers the tariff cut. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the headline inflation in January 2025 was 24.48 per cent, down from a high of 33.20 per cent in March 2024, according to the NBS.
If inflation was a genuine reason for the galloping price hikes, Nigeria deserved the bonus more than South Africa. Multichoice should be lowering, rather than hiking prices in Nigeria, at least over the past year when inflation has been easing. This is more so as Nigeria commands 40 per cent of Multichoice’s customer base in the nine countries it exists. We should be enjoying the advantage of scale.
In effecting its latest shylock and “Apartheid” tariffs on its hapless Nigerian customers, Multichoice claimed that it offers a “world class service” and “enriches lives”. Nobody can argue that DSTV indeed enriched lives when it rolled out in Nigeria in 1993, at a time our broadcast industry was still analogue. DSTV endeared itself to Nigerians by providing glamorous and exciting digital channels and live football action from Europe, especially England. At a point, it even screened Nigerian football league matches live to promote our football.
However, apart from broadening its bouquets and adding more (some irrelevant) channels, DSTV is still technically deficient in many ways. Once the weather changes or it rains, signals still go off until weather clears. That’s unacceptable! Till date, Multichoice has resisted, or been unable to, offer Nigerians the Pay As You Go, PAYG, option. This will enable consumers manage their subscription to cope with the frequent price hikes. Unyime Idem, a Member of House of Representatives (Oruk Anam/Ukanafun, Akwa Ibom State) has fought in vain to extract the PAYG option from Multichoice.
Also, Multichoice continues to ignore the efforts of regulators such as the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, to protect the interests of Nigerians. It went on to impose the latest increase despite a suit filed against it by the FCCPC at the Federal High Court, Abuja, which has fixed May 8, 2025 for judgement.
The argument of Multichoice and its backers is that the company, as a business, has the right to take measures to ensure its survival. Multichoice also points to high running costs, such as having to provide its own power supply, among others, which are absent in South Africa. Indeed, Multichoice advocates have often told Nigerians that they should explore other options in the market rather than allegedly targeting the company for hostility or outright attacks.
It is high time Nigerians took up this challenge. I can understand how attached many have become to DSTV over the years. But the way they are going with tariff increases, it is up to consumers to stay or explore elsewhere. Already, the company has acknowledged the loss of about four million customers, especially in Nigeria in about two years. Many have already relocated to the more pocket-friendly services offered by Startimes, SLTV and others. The recent influx of “set-top boxes” or android television devices in the markets, powered by data, provides the real “multi choice” for consumers.
Perhaps we should expend more energy exploring new options than sticking with a provider that has little interest in being customer-friendly. As our elders say: “‘I won’t sell’ and ‘I won’t buy’ should not spark a fight”. However, the National Assembly, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, FCCPC and social advocacy groups, such as Save the Customers, must continue to ensure that Multichoice or any other foreign business is not allowed to import the afterburn of “Apartheid” to victimise Nigerian consumers.
Protect business, protect Nigerians.
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