Multichoice “extremely disappointed” by minister
Naspers company, MultiChoice, has accused Communications minister Yunus Carrim of denying “anyone but himself the opportunity to speak for millions of South African television viewers”.
The latest salvo comes after MultiChoice, Act-SA and Namec published an open letter to minister Carrim in a number of Sunday papers over the weekend, asking him to allow free, unencrypted digital terrestrial television to launch without any further delay.
MultiChoice criticized government’s position that set-top boxes must include technology which they say is “unnecessary and expensive”. They specifically referred to encryption technology, which is used to control access to TV services, saying it is not needed.
Carrim hit back in a press statement, saying that the open letter is “astonishingly inaccurate and serves to substantially weaken the case of those opposed to the government’s policy”.
“These are the same old, tired issues (raised in the advertisement) that several experts responded to in detail in the facilitation process on the Set-Top Boxes (decoders), necessary for the transition from the current analogue to digital television,” said Carrim.
And in a number of interviews conducted over the past week, Carrim has expressed further dismay over the advert.
“We’ve been keeping the door open to them…out of the blue comes this advert – it shows bad faith, it’s in poor taste, its replete with inaccuracies that they (MultiChoice) themselves know,” the minister told the SABC.
Yunus Carrim
On Wednesday (19 March), MultiChoice issued out a press statement expressing its own disappointment..
“Multichoice is extremely disappointed at the response to date by the Minister of Communications to attempts by our company, black-owned electronics companies and the community TV sector to raise public awareness about the negative impact of the Department of Communications digital migration policy on the poor.
“We urge him to put the interests of consumers first,” the pay-tv operator said.
It noted that over the past few days, the Minister accused Multichoice, NAMEC and the community TV sector of “misrepresenting” the situation.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” it said.
“MultiChoice, the SABC, the community television sector and the National Association of Manufacturers in Electronics Components (NAMEC) are all on record in support of the “unencrypted” set box option because of its multiple benefits to South African television viewers,” the group said.
It said that the minister has “disregarded all our voices and attempted to deny anyone but himself the opportunity to speak for millions of South African television viewers”.
The company accused Carrim of diverting attention by questioning the position that MultiChoice occupies as a significant contributor to the broadcasting industry, and the South African economy in general.
“We have to ask: why? If South African consumers don’t matter, who does?”
“It is clear that, like everywhere else in the world, an unencrypted option is not only the best low-cost option in terms of initial outlay, but is cheaper in terms of ongoing costs to consumers,” MultiChoice said.
“Tagging those who choose to differ from him as “bullies” does not contribute to a solution that is in the best interests of South African television consumers,” it said.
MultiChoice said it remains open to “constructive engagement on this matter”, but accused the minister of being “ill advised”.
“We, however, welcome the minister’s comments that he remains open to dialogue,” it said.
More on MultiChoice
We can’t continue with MultiChoice monopoly: minister
Minister lashes out at MultiChoice digital TV ad
Digital TV in SA: no encryption needed, says Cabinet
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