Legal storm brewing over StarSat shutdown
Pay-TV operator StarSat says it is exploring its legal options after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) raided its offices and disconnected services.
While the group acknowledged the dispute with Icasa, and the authority’s mandate to disconnect its services, it said that Icasa did so with no regard for StarSat’s inputs and disrupted legitimate operations in the process.
Icasa, along with officers from the South African Police Service, raided StarSat’s headquarters to remove its broadcasting equipment after StarSat refused to cease operations in the country after being instructed to do so by the regulator.
Icasa previously warned that it would shut down StarSat itself if the broadcaster failed to comply.
StarSat is operated by OnDigital Media (ODM), which confirmed the raid.
“During this process, not only ODM’s services but also StarTimes Media’s pan-African broadcast were impacted,” it said.
“As the service provider to ODM and a subsidiary of the larger StarTimes Group, StarTimes Media holds a valid individual electronics communication network service (ECNS) licence for transmissions across Africa.”
The group said it was “appalled” by the manner in which Icasa carried out the raid and disregarded “reasonable requests” from StarSat.
“Instead, Icasa opted to remove all equipment, including that belonging to StarTimes Media, which has adversely affected its pan-African broadcast services. This disconnection is highly concerning as it affects legitimate operations under this licence,” it said.
“While ODM acknowledges an ongoing dispute, it strongly contests the disconnection of a valid StarTimes Media connection, which it believes to be unlawful.”
ODM said it is now exploring “all legal avenues” to resolve this issue and restore services.
“The company’s legal representatives have urgently approached the courts and will continue to keep all stakeholders, including customers, employees, and the media, informed as the situation progresses.”
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