Even if the digital migration exercise has taken its sweet time to kick off in Uganda with a 2015 deadline, the communications regulator UCC has said that the current price war among pay-TV companies has been caused by the introduction of fresh players in the decoder importation business. There are also industry analysts that predict the reduction in pay TV charges for Ugandan in the near future.
We are now seeing several pay-TV companies who have cut their decoder prices. According to the Daily Monitor, Mr Fred Otunnu, the UCC corporate communications manager, last week said that the government has opened up the decoder importation market because it is not planning to import set-top boxes (decoders), but it has created mechanisms for the private sector to import the decoders and compete with other pay-TV service providers.
“Government divested Uganda Broadcasting Corporation and created a new company, Signet, to distribute signals to level the ground for the pay-TV market, currently, decoders which carry all the free-to-air channels are available in the open market at UGX 150, 000.”
It is also estimated that at least 50 per cent of the current three million Ugandans owning television sets will be able to acquire decoders within one year after the analogue switch off.
These pay-TV companies operating in Uganda are feeding on the ignorance of Ugandans to charge them a monthly subscription fee for channels they claim to pay for, yet they available through satellite but just require the right decoders. Most of these decoders also have wi-fi inbuilt and you can have your own internet connection at home hence no need to buy internet bundles from mobile phone companies.
Source: Daily Monitor
