The house of representatives had earlier asked the federal government to implement the pay-per-view model for satellite TV subscribers, to encourage “healthy competition” in the broadcast industry.
The lower legislative chamber passed the
resolution on Wednesday, following the adoption of a report on the increment of
tariffs by broadcast digital satellite service providers.
A content creator and broadcaster, Abayomi
Adeoye-Balogun, has branded the House of Representatives as confused over its
call to the Federal Government to compel pay television operators to adopt
Pay-As-You-Go billing model and reduce tariff on their services.
Shaba, who spoke in Lagos yesterday, said
the House appears confused and is indulging in legislative overreach, noting
that there is no provision in the country’s laws that empowers the Federal
Government to determine billing models for and prices charged by private
operatives.
The content provider argued that pay
television companies are private businesses and are free to determine their
subscription models as well as charge tariffs that are reflective of the
economic situation in which they operate.
He noted that pay television is no
essential commodity, public utility or inalienable human right, but a service
for which subscribers have to pay what is charged.
“The legislators are confused. That is what
the resolution passed indicates. They’re just trying to look good in the eyes
of Nigerians.
“Pay TV services are no essential
commodity, social service or basic freedom. They attract charges decided by
operators, who must have done the math, putting many things into consideration.
Operators also decide the billing model, not the government,” he said.
He stated that House’s confusion can also
be seen where it adduced reasons for pay television tariff increases to
increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 5% to 7.5%, dwindling value of the
naira, which naturally must have affected the cost of broadcast content and
infrastructure, inflation and operations in general.
“The factors listed, naturally impact the
whole chain. Content producers have always charged heavily when approached by
broadcasters. Most of the content is bought in dollars, against which the
naira’s performance is worse than poor.
How can prices go down when operating costs
are ballooning? It is also not reasonable to tell them what subscription model
to adopt. As a matter of fact, pay TV companies around the world use the fixed
subscription model. Pay-As-You-Go is technologically incompatible with pay TV
operations, which is different from telecommunications that has a metering
system. TV content is not metered, so you cannot pay only when you watch,” he
said
The call to the Federal Government was
sequel to Wednesday’s adoption of the recommendations of its Ad-Hoc Committee
on Non-implementation of Pay-As-You-Go and Sudden Increment of Tariffs by
Broadcast Digital Satellite Service Providers.
The ad-hoc committee, chaired by Hon Uyinme Idem (PDP, Akwa Ibom), started sitting last March. In its recommendations, it said the implementation of pay-as-you-go model will encourage “healthy competition” in the broadcast industry.