By FORTUNE NDLANGAMANDLA | 2018-02-18

MultiChoice Swaziland will not hike its prices for now for its subscribers, while its South African counterparts can expect prices to shoot up.

MultiChoice Communications Officer Dumsile Masuku said Swaziland will not be hiking its prices because their office is independent from that of South Africa, and as such, “What they do is irrelevant to us. We know nothing about the price hikes,” Masuku said last night. DStv subscription fees are expected to go up with effect from April 1, with subscribers of the fastest-growing tiers, DStv Compact and DStv Compact Plus expected to see the steepest increase. DStv Family subscribers on the lower tier are hit the hardest with a six per cent increase with their subscription climbing from E235 to E249 per month. On the other hand, in Swaziland it remains E215 per month. The top-tier and most expensive DStv package, DStv Premium in Swaziland, the price for one month of DStv Premium remains E789 with 184 channels while in South Africa it will cost 2.5 per cent more from April 1, rising from E789 to E809 per month. The 2.5 per cent increase is however almost half of the four per cent price hike for DStv Premium last year. The percentage of MultiChoice'sDStv Premium subscriptions as part of overall DStv subscriptions have been steadily declining in the past few years, an indication that subscribers no longer see it as offering as much, or enough value, to justify the high price. The bottom-rung DStv Access remains unchanged at E99 per month while the price for one month of DStv Access in Swaziland is E0.00 and it has 99 channels.

MultiChoice elsewhere in Africa lowered DStv fees the past few months in countries ranging from Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Ghana, saying in a statement that "We recognise that our customers are living in tough economic times and want to reward them for their ongoing loyalty and support. We want to do our part by adjusting the price of our DStv packages through making them more affordable while adding more value at the same time."

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