Multichoice Cries Out As 18% Of Nigerian Subscribers Boycott DStv

Multichoice Group, the African Pay-TV operator, has lamented the recent drop in the number of DStv subscribers in Nigeria. In the company’s financial report for the year ending on March 31, 2024, Multichoice attributed the 18% decrease in active subscribers of DStv in Nigeria to the country’s economy. It noted that the latest decline in Nigeria had a significant impact on the overall subscriber database, resulting in a 9% decrease for the entire year. The specific number of subscriptions in Nigeria was not provided, as it was combined with other operating units outside South Africa under the category of ‘Rest of Africa’ (RoA). Multichoice further revealed that the 18% decline in Nigeria contributed to a 13% decrease in the total active subscribers of RoA, bringing the figure down to 8.1 million from 9.3 million in 2023. “The group’s 9% decline in active subscribers was mainly due to a 13% decline in the Rest of Africa business as mass-market customers in countries like Nigeria had to prioritise basic necessities over entertainment, while the South African business showed more resilience with a 5% decline. “The Nigerian economy and consumers faced persistent challenges through FY24. The removal of fuel subsidies, sharp currency depreciation with the official naira halving in value, inflation climbing to over 30%, and higher emigration of the middle and upper class drove an 18% YoY decline in active subscribers,” the company said. Multichoice mentioned that this led to a decrease in Nigeria’s share of the Rest of Africa revenues from 44% to 35%. It was pointed out that Ghana experienced a comparable subscriber trend due to an inflation rate that remains above 20%. Additionally, Multichoice explained that, because of the difficult market conditions, the immediate priority for its RoA (Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, Ghana, and Zimbabwe) operations shifted from increasing subscribers to protecting profitability and cash flow. It added: “Several cost-saving initiatives were implemented, including scaling back significantly on decoder subsidies (-46% YoY or ZAR1.3 billion), and reducing selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) costs by ZAR500 million. These interventions enabled the Rest of Africa business to increase trading profit by 48% YoY to ZAR1.3 billion.”

Inactive lines will be lost after one year, NCC warns subscribers

New guidelines proposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will see telephone subscribers lose their lines if it is inactive for one year. The guidelines, which were published by the Commission, are part of efforts by the NCC to improve service delivery by telecommunications companies (telcos). The commission said, “Subscribers may lose their numbers within a year if they do not use it”. “A subscriber’s line may be deactivated if it has not been used within six months, for a Revenue Generating Event (RGE), and If the situation persists for another six months, the subscriber may lose their number, except for a network-related fault inhibiting an RGE.” “Deduction of line rental charge is regarded by RGE,” it said.   To recover their lines, the Commission said subscribers must provide “proof of good reason for absence and is at liberty to request for line parking.” The commission said the publication was in accordance with section 57 of the NCC Act to allow stakeholders to make contributions to the policy. The new NCC guidelines, titled, ‘Draft Quality of Service Business Rules’, stipulate the minimum quality and standards of service, associated measurements, and key performance indicators for measuring the quality of service. According to the document, telcos are to attend to customers within 30 minutes upon arrival at any of their service centres across the country. “For customer care centres, waiting time to be physically attended to by relevant staff at customer care centres is 30 minutes. The licensee shall provide means of measuring the waiting time, starting from the time of arrival at the premises,” the document reads. The commission also said telcos must ensure that customers can speak to a customer care representative within five minutes when they call a telco’s helpline. “Lines should not be more than three times; maximum number of rings before a call is answered by either an IVR machine or a live agent should not be more than five; and where a customer decides to speak to a live agent, the maximum duration allowable on the queue/IVR should be 5 minutes before answer,” NCC said. “In exceptional cases where a live agent may be unavailable within five minutes to answer the call, a customer should be given an option to hang up to be called back within a maximum time of 30 minutes. “Customer care lines that can be accessed through 21 free access numbers and if 1 number then it should accommodate multiple other network calls at the same time.” On credit alert while on call, telcos are expected to send “a single short-beep to the call initiator 2 minutes, and at 30 seconds to termination of the ongoing call”.  It added that “low credit announcement to be played while the call is being originated in a situation where the call cannot last up to 30 seconds.”