MultiChoice said on Tuesday it would welcome competition after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) announced that it would be inviting applications for a subscription broadcast licence at the end of the month.
Nolo Letele, CEO of MultiChoice, said in a statement on Tuesday that competition “would ensure more choice and diversity of content for consumers”.
MultiChoice said it supports and adheres to the process set down by Icasa, the broadcast regulator in South Africa, and welcomes competition in this sector.
“It will be good for the pay-television industry and, most importantly, attract the necessary investment into the broadcasting industry and the South African economy,” said the statement.
The Mail & Guardian Online reported earlier this month that a company called Black Earth Communications had applied for a commercial broadcasting licence that, if granted, would result in another pay-television service to Africa operating out of Botswana.
The venture, which would be called Black Entertainment Satellite Television, or BEStv, would initially offer viewers between five and 10 channels and cost less than R100 a month.
Andrew Jones, spokesperson for the venture, said once in place, the company plans to upgrade to a service that would offer viewers a sampling of between 100 and 300 new channels not available on DStv, with no significant rate increase.
Jones said the venture came about after a failed effort to gain a channel on the DStv bouquet.
If the company is awarded the Botswana licence, the new service will be available around the middle of this year.
“Current owners of decoders under the PAS-7 and PAS-10 satellite footprint will simply have to buy a new smart card and the service will be theirs,” said Jones.
According to a Business Day report on Tuesday, Rajay Ambekar, African Harvest Fund portfolio manager, said there are two main issues surrounding the new pay-television licences — infrastructure and content.
“If Icasa allows a new pay-television operator to simply insert their smart card into [MultiChoice] decoders, the threat of competition becomes much bigger for MultiChoice.”
Ambekar said he expects MultiChoice to try to stop the opening up of its decoders.
“If they can’t stop it, the group will be hoping to get some fee from providing the box. It is all up to Icasa,” he said.
Ambekar added that MultiChoice has some exclusive rights to the channels it broadcasts on its bouquets — channels new entrants would most likely want to broadcast.
MultiChoice said Icasa has no jurisdiction to deal with competition concerns relating to the exclusive acquisition of content. Instead, it is the concern of the competition authorities.
MultiChoice said any attempt to undermine the principle of exclusivity would lead to less investment, lower quality, less content and a decrease in South Africa’s role in African broadcasting.
“Exclusivity and the advantages which flow from it are important for future subscription broadcasting services, which will have a strong need to differentiate themselves from one another to attract subscribers,” said Ambekar.