Namibians Spared DStv Price Hike (For Now)

MultiChoice Namibia has squashed rumours that the DStv prices are increasing as of 1 April. Although the increase is expected in South Africa, the same cannot be said for Namibia. For now.

Rumours were going around on social media stating that MultiChoice was uppping DStv prices, prompting Namibian viewers to wonder how much more they’d be expected to fork out.

Lizette Foot, the corporate affairs manager at MultiChoice, says any price increase will be communicated to clients well in advane. “At this stage, the business is still reviewing our pricing and assessing our current operational costs within the business, the economy and foreign currency devaluations. Please be assured we will make the necessary announcement to subscribers well before any increase in order to ensure that subscribers have adequate forward notification.”

Prices in South Africa increased by 8%. News website Channel 24 reported that the price increase was prompted by South African electricity provider Eskom which has demanded consumers fork out about 9.4% more for electricity in 2016.

However, MultiChoice’s sudden increase in South Africa is nothing new. Annually, the price hike comes around in April with various bouquets falling victim to it. However, this year, the DStv Access and decoder insurance (for those who have any) will remain the same for the remainder of the year.

Continuously, MultiChoice heads state that content rights are quite expensive, therefore the company is forced to push up their prices to keep up with the demand. Last year, for example, SuperSport only allowed the Premium package to showcase the Premier League, which caused an uproar among other DStv viewers. The issue has since been resolved.

With the South African rand plummeting against other currencies, this directly affected the Namibian dollar which is directly linked to the rand, however in this case, the country has been spared. In January this year, the rand slumped to its lowest when it traded at R17,99 against the US dollar.

MultiChoice SA has offered options for those who do not want to deal with the stress of price increases. Paying the DStv subscription annually in advance (before 31 March) will allow viewers to pay the 2015 rates for the next 11 months while the 12th month will be free. A price lock option is also available. This is where avid viewers receive a DStv Explora, pay the monthly Access fee and get free delivery.

In Namibia, DStv offers the Premium package at a monthly rate of N$699, DStv Extra at N$425, DStv Compact at N$319, DStv Family at N$199 and DStv Access at N$99. Other packages include the DStv EasyView for N$39 and the Indian, and Portuguese packages which are N$319. The GOtv Starter kit costs N$499 which is a once-off payment. Packages include Gotv Plus for N$99 per month, GOtv Value for N$65 per month and GOtv Lite for N$66 quarterly.

Note that users with a DStv Explora are required to pay an extra fee of N$69 in order to access Catch-Up and recorded programmes.