Abuse of dominance by ZNBC, Multichoice

THE Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is in discussion with Government on the abuse of dominance by Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) and Multichoice in the pay television (TV) industry.

CCPC executive director Chilufya Sampa said many firms are trying to come onto the local market but are failing due to certain needs.
“One of the areas we are looking at is pay TV…The agreement that ZNBC has with Multichoice has created a lot of concerns.
“We are engaging with Government on this issue. People are trying to come on the market but they are failing and to come here you need to have certain local content …and the best firm to broadcast  local content is ZNBC,” he said.
Mr Sampa told journalists at a media workshop in Siavonga recently that the activity is a cost to the public.
“We are currently looking at this abuse of dominance which is a concern to us because we want to have as many pay TV stations as possible,” he said.
Mr Sampa said subscribers have since been subjected to paying high premiums for a bouquet over the last 10 years with prices that started from US$50 to the current US$100.
He said the price tags have continued to swell up because there is no competition, “When TV came here [Zambia], there was a shake-up and prices stabilised but a ‘minute’ they went out…. prices went up.”

Zambia Daily Mail