Technology

MultiChoice May Increase DSTV Subscription Fees

Published

9 years ago

02/11/2016

Dipo Olowookere

dstv-training

By Dipo Olowookere

Nigerians may have to start gearing up to pay more in this harsh economy if they wish to continue accessing television contents from popular PayTV provider, DSTV.

This hint was dropped recently by the General Manager, Sales and Marketing of MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr Martin Maputo.

MultiChoice Nigeria is the parent company of DSTV, which has provided interesting contents to Nigerians for many years, including the English Premier League (EPL).

Checks by Business Post revealed that since the country went into recession, some Nigerians have found it difficult to do some things, including paying for monthly DSTV subscriptions and others.

Prices of goods in the market have skyrocketed especially due to the exchange rate of the Naira against the Dollar, forcing some to cut down on their spending. Jobs have been lost during the period and some companies forced to lay off workers.

Speaking recently, Mr Maputo warned that subscription fees in Nigeria may go up if the foreign exchange (forex) problem facing the country was not addressed by the government.

He said currently, DStv is trying as much as possible to avoid any price increase but instead concentrating on upgrading its contents across all bouquets, but maintained that if government fails to curtail the forex crisis, which has made it more expensive for the company to buy foreign content, especially the EPL, it might be forced to consider price increase.

“Most of the content we buy such as EPL and others from abroad are dominated in Pounds and Dollars.

“So, we are not only operating in the market but also responding to the market. At this stage, we are trying as much as we can to avoid any price increase but if there is nothing done to curtail the forex issues, we might be forced to increase (our subscription fees),” Mr Maputo said in Lagos while unveiling new content upgrade on all DStv bouquets.

Business Post learned that Mr Maputo’s warning is coming when MultiChoice has already reduced subscription rates in other African countries.

From November 1, 2016, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi and other countries in Africa started paying reduced monthly subscription fees on DStv and GOtv bouquets.

According to the Nation, his may be a response to the harsh economic realities sweeping across the continent.

For example in Uganda, the company announced about 15 percent cut in subscription fees, in a move to entice more customers amid weak economic realities.

MultiChoice Uganda Public Relations and Communications Manager, Ms Tina Wamala, was quoted to have said, “We are facing hard economic times not just as a company but also our customers,” just as its General Manager, Mr Charles Hamya, was also quoted to have explained in a statement that, “This significant price drop, coupled with the major boost in entertainment value across all DStv bouquets demonstrates our commitment to ensuring DStv customers receive the best possible access to great entertainment and outstanding value.”

Also in Malawi, MultiChoice announced a drop in DStv subscription rates.

It was reported that under the reduction regime, DStv Premium in Malawi is down to K55,600 from K61,100, Compact Plus is at K35,700 from K42,000, Compact is at K22,300 from K23,800 while Family is reduced to K12,700 from K16,700.

“MultiChoice’s priority is to put customers at the heart of our business and that is why the whole of this year, despite the economic challenges the country is facing, we did not increase our subscription prices.

“It’s been 20 years that we have been doing business in Malawi and we strive to do business differently and that is why tonight’s press briefing is named ‘Business Unusual’,” its Marketing Manager, Chimwemwe Nyirenda, was quoted by the Nation to have said during a press briefing at Atmosphere Restaurant in Blantyre.

However in South Africa, the home country of the company, there would not be a hike in the subscription fee.

“We review the DStv prices once a year when we do our business planning – our prices for next year will be announced before April 1, 2017.

“When reviewing our packages and pricing in each country, we take into account local dynamics such as inflation, content costs, foreign exchange rates, local taxes and overheads required for each business.

“We’ve done a lot of research into what pay-TV costs in other parts of the world, and we believe that DStv offers good value for money in the countries in which it operates.

“In South Africa, we’ve implemented a number of cost-saving options for our customers – those who pay annually receive one month free, and our Price Lock packages enable customers to freeze their package price for two years,” MultiChoice South Africa reportedly said.

The Nation also reports that “the firm is alleged to be making an average of about N8 billion from its over 4 million subscribers every month in Nigeria and about N80 billion as turnover per year.”

Business Post recalls that in April 2015, Nigerians vehemently kicked against hike in the subscription fees of DSTV.

The matter even went to court and a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos restrained MultiChoice Nigeria Limited from going on with its new rates and increase in tariffs payable by its subscribers across board.

The restraining order was given by Justice C.J. Aneke following a suit filed, with number FHC/L/CS/404/2015, by two Lagos-based lawyers, Mr Osasuyi Adebayo and Oluyinka Oyeniji.

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Dipo Olowookere

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via dipo.olowookere@businesspost.ng

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Technology

Zoho Unveils Zia LLM, Expands AI Suite With Agents, Studio Tools

Published

16 hours ago

28/08/2025

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A global technology company, Zoho, has introduced its proprietary large language model known as Zia LLM, trained specifically for business use cases, keeping privacy and governance at its core, which has resulted in lowering the inference cost, passing on that value to the customers, while also ensuring that they are able to utilise AI productively and efficiently.

In a statement, the company also announced the launched of a no-code agent builder, Zia Agent Studio, over 25 deployable Zia agents, and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to open up its vast library of actions to third-party agents.

The Country Head for Zoho Nigeria, Mr Kehinde Ogundare, noted that these products demonstrate the organisation’s longstanding aim to build foundational technology focused on protection of customer data, breadth and depth of capabilities because of the business context, and value.

Zia LLM leveraged NVIDIA’s AI accelerated computing platform. It comprises three models with 1.3 billion, 2.6 billion and 7 billion parameters, each separately trained and optimised for contextual applicability that benchmark competitively against comparable open source models in the market.

The three models allow Zoho to always optimise the right model for the right user context, striking the balance between power and resource management. In the short term, Zoho will scale Zia LLM’s model sizes, starting with the first set of parameter increases by the end of 2025.

While Zoho supports many LLM integrations for users, including ChatGPT, Llama, and DeepSeek, Zia LLM continues its commitment to data privacy by allowing customers to keep their data on its servers, leveraging the latest AI capabilities without sending their data to AI cloud providers.

As for the Zia Agent Studio, Zoho has simplified it to be fully prompt-based (with the option to use low-code) and includes ready-made access to over 700 actions across its products.

Agents built by users can be deployed autonomously, triggered by button click, with rule-based automation, or even summoned within customer conversations.

To enable immediate adoption of agentic technology, Zoho has developed a roster of AI agents contextually baked right into its products. These agents can be used across various business activities, handling relevant actions based on the role of the user. These include Customer Service Agent for Zoho Desk that can process incoming customer requests, understand the context, and either answer directly or triage them to a human rep, providing an efficient first line of assistance.

At the time of deployment, an agent can be provisioned as a digital employee, maintaining the user access permission structure defined within the organisation. Admins can perform behavioural audits as well as performance and impact analyses on digital employees, ensuring that every agent is working as effectively as possible and within clear guardrails.

These agents are available in Agent Marketplace from where customers can easily deploy them. Ecosystem partners, ISVs, and individual developers will be able to create agents and host them on the Zia Agents Marketplace in coming months.

The company plans to add more skills to Ask Zia, allowing it to act as an assistant to Finance teams, Customer Support teams to start with. Support for the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol will be implemented, allowing Zia Agents to interact and collaborate with each other, as well as collaborate with agents on other platforms.

Technology

AI Can Drive Nigeria’s GDP Growth by 20%—NITDA

Published

18 hours ago

28/08/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Inuwa, has projected that the digital economy, using Artificial Intelligence (AI), could drive the country’s economy up to 20 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

Mr Inuwa said at the 3rd Economic Confidential Lecture in Abuja on Wednesday that AI was no longer optional but essential.

“Those who fail to upskill will be replaced. AI can free up 20 per cent of time for higher productivity, and nations leading in AI will lead the world.”

According to him, the country can not afford to miss the fourth industrial revolution after losing out in the first three revolutions.

Mr Inuwa said that there were ongoing collaborations with the Ministry of Education to build digital literacy into the country’s national curriculum, and with the office of Head of Service of the Federation to enhance civil service training .

“Market women can now connect with customers through mobile technology. But as we connect, we must also protect, and cybersecurity is a critical pillar.”

The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Mr Ike Neliaku, said that the country must ensure that participation in the digital global economy is inclusive, innovative, and sustainable.

Mr Neliaku, was represented by NIPR fellow, Mr Afolabi Olajuwon, urged the country to be committed to building capacity, investing in infrastructure, and creating policies that enable innovation to thrive.

“We are living in a period where technology is reshaping governance, trade, education, healthcare and every aspect of human endeavour.

“Nations that fail to embrace the digital revolution risk being left behind, while those that seize the opportunity can leapfrog barriers to growth and development,” Mr Neliaku said.

He said that the country was blessed with a dynamic youth population, abundant talent and a spirit of innovation,adding that must advance its embrace of this new reality.

Mr Neliaku said that the Renewed Hope Agenda challenged Nigerians to harness technology, not merely as consumers, but as creators, innovators and exporters of digital solutions.

He said that to achieve this, there should be collaboration among government, private sector and the academia, adding that the media was not optional, but critical and essential.

“I also wish to commend the unveiling of the three landmark publications: Diplomacy and digital innovation: youths’ insights. Healing Nigeria: A chronicle of health reform and hope, and also the Renewed hope in central banking.

“Each of these publications reflects a thoughtful attempt to capture pressing national and global issues, while offering practical insights for policy and practice.

“They are not just books, but tools for shaping informed conversations and evidence-based decision-making,” Mr Neliaku said.

Other experts identified AI as a key factor to be embraced to drive Nigeria’s economy into a prosperous one.

They canvassed for the deployment of technology and AI into the country’s current struggle for economic diversification and general development.

Specifically, they called for the adoption of AI to enhance Nigeria’s growth in the fourth global industrial revolution.

Technology

ntel Eyes 2026 Return to Nigeria’s Telco Market

Published

3 days ago

26/08/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s pioneering telecoms operator, ntel (formerly NITEL), is eyeing a return from dormancy, with a preliminary target of first quarter of 2026.

According to a report from a tech platform, Technology Times, the return of the telco is underpinned by a strategic N30 billion injection from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

Once the dominant pre-GSM era provider with both wireline and mobile services via NITEL and Mtel, the operator fell into prolonged dormancy following the privatization of the Nigerian telecommunications sector.

After NatCom Development & Investment Limited acquired the business for $252.25 million in 2015, ntel struggled to regain traction. Now, AMCON is spearheading a revival, aiming to reintroduce ntel as an asset-light, infrastructure-centric competitor in Nigeria’s telecoms space.

According to the publication, a cornerstone of the revival plan is the appointment of Mr Soji Maurice-Diya, formerly CEO of American Tower Nigeria, to lead the company. He will succeed Mr Adrian Wood, a former chief executive of MTN Nigeria.

At the helm with extensive leadership experience across sectors such as telecom infrastructure (ATC), oil (ExxonMobil), tech (IBM), consulting (EY), and entrepreneurship (as co-founder of Hash App), Mr Maurice-Diya is expected to drive the execution of this turnaround plan.

AMCON’s intervention represents both a financial stabilization effort and a bid to rescue strategic national telecom assets, in line with targets set by President Bola Tinubu.

The telco holds a Unified Access Service licence from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It is reportedly exploring a cost-efficient Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) model, potentially piggybacking on infrastructure from incumbent operators.

This choice arises from a sobering analysis: fully competing with Nigeria’s top mobile network operators (MTN, Airtel, Glo, and T2/9mobile), which collectively manage over 171 million lines. The telco would require an estimated N7.68 trillion ($5 billion) in capital. Instead, the MVNO approach allows ntel to focus on branding, customer experience, and differentiated services, particularly to youth, fintech, and rural prepaid segments without owning costly infrastructure, the publication analysed.

Despite previous setbacks, ntel retains key assets including spectrum holdings, fibre-optic infrastructure inherited from NITEL, and landing rights on international submarine cables. These which support a broadband-first strategy to help bridge Nigeria’s digital divide.