Multichoice, Your Nigerian Subscribers Deserve A Better Deal

Multichoice, the South African Company that has brought us DSTV, the satellite television system, has definitely had it good in Nigeria. Since it began operations in the country in the early 1990’s, the company has amassed a huge subscriber base and made billions of Naira from the Nigerian economy. I won’t even mention the huge amounts that Nigerians were and are still paying for subscribing to the system; fees that almost double those offered by its competitors. For a long time, Nigerians have had no choice in the matter, at least not until HITV came up a couple of years ago to stop the unhealthy monopoly that Multichoice has been enjoying in Nigeria.

So while I am still a DSTV subscriber, I still have issues with the Company. One include the many subscriber promotions that DSTV offers to its South African subscribers, promotions which its Nigeria subscribers only get to hear about, but never participate in. Is it that DSTV does not make enough money in Nigeria to justify offering holidays, cars and other gifts to a few of its many subscribers? Or are we again seeing the profiteering behaviour that has characterised the business practices of South African-owned businesses in Nigeria? I recall that MTN, the mobile telephony company was also particularly stingy with rewarding or making good for bad behaviour to its subscribers until the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and its biggest competitor, Globacom, gave it the fight of its life.

South African firms need to be reminded that apartheid has been dead for over 16 years, and that a business model that involves them short-changing Nigerians is not sustainable. MultiChoice should find ways to reward their Nigerian subscribers before the generality of the Nigerian public get wise to its funny games. What is good enough for South Africans is okay for Nigerians.