The sharp price increase has been blamed on a weakening South African rand which has placed MultiChoice in an uncomfortable position as it acquires content from the global market where stronger currencies like the British pound and the United States dollar are used.
According to Techcentral, part of the statement from DStv which was meant to explain this latest increase and its other price hikes read,
We buy most of [our] fantastic content in foreign currency, and due to the depreciation of the rand by 29% since April 2015, our costs have gone up dramatically. Over the past five years, our adjustments have been in line with inflation. We’ve worked really hard to keep this year’s fees manageable.
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It’s safe to say that subscribers won’t be too happy to fork out more for entertainment and in an environment where entertainment alternatives are popping up in the form of Video On Demand (VOD) services like Netflix and even Showmax, a cousin to DStv, those who can migrate will do.
Will this affect Zimbabwe?
A significant number of Zimbabweans currently access DStv South Africa services using illegal ghost accounts. This hack is popular because of the huge price variance between DStv South Africa and DStv Zimbabwean prices, which are charged in United States dollars, as well as the additional content available on DStv South Africa’s packages.
The scheduled increases naturally mean that these subscribers will pay more, but even after the price hike it will still be cheaper to get the South African subscription. The DStv Premium bouquet price, for example, costs $82 or 1 296 Rand, which is well above the new 759 Rand that South Africa subscriber will be paying next month.
There has been no confirmation from DStv Zimbabwe whether these increases will also be headed DStv Zimbabwe’s way, the local MultiChoice office is yet to respond to our questions on the matter.
However with price increase having been the norm for DStv, the conclusion right now is that even DStv Zimbabwe will have to face some form of price hike this year.
Techzim