The number of homes or households with access to satellite TV in Angola in 2022 reached 6% of national coverage, according to figures revealed by the Angolan Institute of Communications (INACOM). According to INACOM figures, satellite TV subscriptions in the financial year 2022 reached a total of 2,03 million subscriptions in cable and satellite, which represents an increase of 8% compared to December 2021.
In addition to increasing the number of subscriptions on the market, due to the strong devaluation of the kwanza against the dollar, pay-TV operators want to increase prices. According to Jornal Expansão, the DSTV and TV Cabo mention that costs keep rising and that, therefore, they are forced to increase prices to their customers, but that, until now, this desire has been stopped by the Angolan Institute of Communications (INACOM). The strong currency devaluation affects the cost structures of operators.
Cable TV operators intend to increase the prices of their services to cover cost structures, penalized by the strong exchange rate devaluation that started in May this year, telephone operators discard, at least for now, these increases that have to be accepted by INACOM .
DSTV and Tv Cabo refer that costs keep rising and that, therefore, they are obliged to increase prices to their customers, but that, until now, this desire has been blocked by the Angolan Institute of Communications (INACOM), regulator of the sector, since the prices of “electronic communications services are fixed by the holders of ministerial departments that oversee electronic communications and finance”, in accordance with the General Regulation of Electronic Communications, presidential decree nº 108/16 of 25 May.
The Jornal Expansion detected a questionnaire to the aforementioned operators ABOUT THE RISE IN PRICES, where each one of them answered:
DSTV: "We are waiting for authorization from the Government, without putting pressure, but aware that if this situation continues for a prolonged period we will have to take more difficult decisions to safeguard the sustainability of our business", advanced to Expansão Estefânia Sousa, director of corporate affairs of Multichoice Angola, “owner” of DSTV.
CABLE TV: For the activity of satellite and cable television operators, all the equipment installed in customers' homes is purchased abroad, which means that every time the Kwanza devalues, it ends up aggravating the costs of the structure. “We spoke with the regulator and explained everything, but INACOM justifies that electronic communications services are considered sensitive and the economic situation is not pleasant”, laments Francisco Ferreira, general director of Tv Cabo.
É It is also important to point out that this request to INACOM to change prices is not new, as the operators are applying permanent pressure, not least because the Angolan exchange market is very volatile, with cyclical crises. Even so, the tariff has remained unchanged, since prices have not been updated since 2019.
