Another media house is on the brink of closure after authorities switched off StarSat, DStv’s sole rival in the pay-TV market.
Officials from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), accompanied by members of the SA Police Service (SAPS), entered StarSat’s offices in Midrand and “disconnected services”, the company said on Wednesday. In March, Icasa ruled that OnDigital Media (ODM), the owner of StarSat, “should wind up its affairs and cease providing broadcasting services” by September 18.
Its licence, valid for 15 years, was issued in July 2008 and expired in July 2023. The company, which launched its service to compete with MultiChoice’s DStv, admits it submitted its licence renewal application to the regulator on November 10 2023, well after the deadline.
The satellite operator on Tuesday said it hoped to persuade Icasa to let it continue broadcasting after failing to renew its licence on time, but added it was prepared to take the matter to court.
StarSat has positioned itself as a cheaper alternative to DStv, with its most expensive package costing R360 a month, compared with R929 for a premium DStv subscription.
StarSat has 500,000 customers in SA, while MultiChoice has more than 8-million.
According to the Electronic Communications Act and related regulations, the holder of an individual broadcasting service licence must submit its renewal application to the regulator no earlier than 12 months and no later than six months before the expiry of the licence.
Business Day understands that shutting down StarSat would cost investors $25m (R433m).
“Not only were ODM’s services impacted [by the shutdown] but also those of StarTimes Media’s pan-African broadcast. As the service provider to ODM and a subsidiary of the larger StarTimes Group, StarTimes Media holds a valid individual electronics communication network service licence for transmissions across Africa,” StarSat said.
“While we acknowledge Icasa’s mandate to shut down ODM’s SA services, we are appalled by the manner in which Icasa disregarded ODM’s reasonable initial request for a discussion regarding which equipment should be removed, should the execution order be carried out.”
ODM said it was exploring all legal avenues to resolve the issue swiftly and restore services. Its legal representatives had urgently approached the courts and would keep customers, employees and the media informed as the situation progressed. it said.
The situation could jeopardise the jobs of 600 ODM employees and affect the broader network of more than 4,000 dealers and sales agents doing business with StarSat.
The high court in Johannesburg recently dismissed an urgent interdict filed by ODM to block Icasa’s decision that it cease operations. A review application is pending to address “the substantive legal issues between the two parties” once the court date is set.
Before enforcing the closure in March, Icasa said it informed ODM of its decision to do so at the end of October 2023.
The regulator said it had written a number of letters to ODM requesting it to provide information, including the amount of time it would require to wind up its affairs; how and when it would inform subscribers about the winding up of its services; and reasons for the proposed timelines of winding up.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.