South Africans Praise Malawi as Multichoice Withdraws DSTV Services After Court Refuses Price Hikes

• Multichoice has withdrawn its services from Malawi due to a dispute with the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority over yearly price increases
• MARCA obtained a temporary court injunction to prevent the fee hikes, which were set to take effect soon
• South Africans are happy that the Malawian government took action against Multichoice and hope other governments will do the same

MALAWI - A tiff between Multichoice and the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MARCA) led to the South African-based company withdrawing its services.

Multichoice Malawi and Macra have been going back and forth at the courts over the company's yearly price increase.

Multichoice block from increasing prices in Malawi

SABC News reports that Multichoice Malawi announced it would be increasing prices. MARCA quickly approached the courts and was granted a temporary court injunction to block the fee hikes.

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The price increase was expected to take effect next month.

In response to MARCA 's temporary court injunction, Multichoice tried to get a stay of the injunction.

In a statement by Multichoice, the company informs DSTV subscribers in the country to halt payments for DSTV services. Customers who have already paid their subscription fees will continue to enjoy the service until 10 September.

Multichoice added that no new customers or subscribers would be accepted from Wednesday, 9 August.

South Africans react to Multichoice withdrawing DSTV services on Malawi

@ThembaMhlophe said:

"Malawians must establish their own company. DSTV is screwing us even here in SA. Well done to the courts."

@musa_mansa said:

"This is great news for Malawi. DSTV has a lot of licence deals that restrict average people from accessing content legally. Now they will have that freedom. Plus, the idea of satellite TV is dying. Probably that is the real reason."

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@asandaLFC said:

"Bro, Malawi regulators wanted to decrease DSTV prices, but DSTV refused. More countries should do this so DSTV can lose sports rights."

@Mundesedwine said:

"DSTV is no longer needed btw. With smart TVs and the internet, you can watch anything you want online when you want. No subscription needed."

@godfrey_nthako said:

"Good for Malawi, DSTV is too expensive, and they give us the same boring old stuff."

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Briefly News previously reported that Multichoice Group is responsible for giving the country services such as DStv, SuperSport and Showmax, some of the country's biggest entertainment platforms.

The entertainment corporation giant is reporting a decline in the company's subscription base. Calvo Mawela discussed some of the reasons for the dips in their finances.

According to BusinessTech, Multichoice showed an increase in revenue, but their subscription revenue only increased by 1%. Similarly, their trading profit decreased from R12.1 billion by 1% to R11 billion.

Source: Briefly News