MultiChoice, the parent company of DStv, continues to amaze on its understanding of the Nigerian market: the company made it clear today that it would not introduce pay as you view (PAYV). It continues to prefer the monthly plan pricing model.
Multichoice, the digital satellite television operator announced on Friday that the company would not operate the “pay as you view’’ tariff system in Nigeria, in spite of demands for such.
The Chief Customer Officer of Multichoice, Martin Mabutho, made the statement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Mr Mabutho’s stance comes against the backdrop of persistent clamour by the company’s teeming subscribers for the introduction of a pay as you view tariff plan in Africa’s most populous nation.
“We are not going to introduce pay as you view system. Our contract with our suppliers is on month to month basis,’’ he stated
Yet, in the same country, telecom operators do not think the monthly plan is promising, choosing PAYG (pay as you go). Sure, these are different business sectors. Nonetheless, it is not hard to understand why DStv continues to do well: once it has collected that monthly payment, it is in the books, whether you have light or time to watch that show.
And for the telco, once it has sold that N500 PAYG data, you can use it to indulge hours on WhatsApp, making all the calls while the telco gets nothing more. You would have thought that a monthly plan, using the SIM card registration data the telco has would have made sense.
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In my honest opinion, monthly payments for DSTV is ripping Nigerians off, knowing very well that if they go on pay-as-you-view, they would run losses. Those who can afford DSTV regularly rarely watch it. They probably buy for family members because they are usually too busy working. Those irregular users cannot afford buying fuel regularly to watch when they want because power failure is more regular than power supply. So, DSTV can never stop their monthly plan until strong competitors come in. Knowing the Nigerian government and the penchant for bribes, they will rather keep bribing the regulators to ensure that entry requirements are too stringent for potential entrants, thereby monopolizing the market. Any day they have serious competitors, this crazy rip off will stop.
As for telecom companies, they should by now have tried out the two plans. Locking people into a deal is one sure way of making money because it at least guarantees a certain percentage of revenue. Despite Amazon’s success, there is Amazon Prime which ensures that once you sign up, there is a monthly fee. Although I am no expert in strategy, I would have suggested a pilot project on monthly payments and compare the results with the current Pay-As-You-Go.
However, in fairness to consumers, pre-paid and post-paid plans should be available in both sectors so that consumers decide which they want based on convenience. Finally, DSTV is a premium product, so its target market is the rich!
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