ICASA awards pay-TV licenses

[rpm]

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/1289.html

 

[xrapidx]

About TIME!

 

[WiseCrack]

Good news.

Funny how there must first be competition before monopolies like Multichoice decides to give their customers more like with the new channels.

Why cant they lower the price rather.

Pathetic :-((

 

[Shake&Bake]

Well lets wait and see - I can't afford DSTV - so hopefully this will soften up the market.
Guess who I won't be going with

Also anyone got a listing of the shareholders in these new companies?

Would like to know ahead of time if they somehow share interests with one another. Something tells me this will go along the lines of secret retreats where all the CEO's get together to collude on keeping prices where they'd like

 

[Nod]

A bit of a low number. I would have liked to see more operators. There is no harm in licensing more providers, and their license can always be revoked if they don't deliver on their promises (Telkom Media excluded obviously )

 

[Sneeky]

TELKOM Media ---- SHAME ON ICASA

 

[GougedEye]

Well as to shareholders ... Two of them are Multichoice and ETV, So I guess we can't expect them to really take on themselves.

A Third is Telkom, and I really don't expect anything but consumer rape from them. For them "Value for Money" means buying cheap and selling high.

Don't know who On Digital Media or Walk on Water are, but the later sounds scarily like a religious organisation? Can we expect to see lots of American Televangelsits promising salvation at discount rates there?

Don't want to sound negative, but I don't expect much from this lot. It's not price that worries me, but content. I would happily pay more for decent content. But then I understand that SA is sports mad and thats all the majority care about. What I would do for the real US Sci Fi channel (not the watered down version we used to have). Or something like UKs Sky Gold. But alas, I suspect we will be getting more of the same.

 

[Tux]

Guess which one I will most definitely NOT be using... Ever...

 

[Shake&Bake]

Guess which one I will most definitely NOT be using... Ever...

Hey I used that line already *points up up*

Yellow card - line infringement

 

[Nutcracker]

Didn't some analyst say that the market can't handle more that something like 2 operators? I think the smaller providers are going to have a hard time in the beginning with all the competition.

 

[jasweb]

See GOAL did not make it....

BIG surprise (not!)...

From their website

-----------------------------

Get GoalNet

Our current focus is to talk to Municipalities, Home Owner Associations, Property Developers, Facility Managers, shopping centres and residents of access controlled communities and residential suburbs, where GTS networks will be deployed at limited or no capital cost. No more hassles with cabling for intercoms, telephones, internet, access control or security cameras, because the existing electrical cables are mostly used for communication. Feel free to contact us to find out more....

-----------------------------

Rather not.. thank you!

 

[Biggie]

Good news...more than 2 NOW will be better for the long run.The new Dstv channels are not mind blowing so i'll certainly look for an alternative.And if that is Telkom Media i don't care i'll jump 1st is the price/content is good enough.

 

[ShaunSA]

No surprise with Telkom Media getting in. Just surprised it's more then them and Multisucks.

 

[ronan73]

Any guesses as to when they will start trading, what content they will offer and how much will the subs be.

 

[ic]

Didn't some analyst say that the market can't handle more that something like 2 operators?

Yes, there was some analyst that is reported to have said something reminiscent of let's use Poison Ivy's [mis]Managed Liberalisation policy and only licence 2 PayTV operators...

I think the smaller providers are going to have a hard time in the beginning with all the competition.

Looking around...what competition? - we will have to wait for these operators to actually open their doors for business, just like we're still waiting for NeeTel to open its doors for business...

Newsflash for TelkodemonopoliesMedia: get a divorce from Telkodemonopolies and a name change, and you might get some customers vaguely interested in using your services.

 

[Legosa]

I think that another 4 operators is way to much. How much market share will they gain from Multichoice, little I think, and now we have 4 companies fighting for same piece of the pie where if they only licensed another 2 operators it would have been better. Think that Digital Media and Walk on Water will fold father quickly.

 

[ColinR]

I think that another 4 operators is way to much.... Think that Digital Media and Walk on Water will fold father quickly.

That's the whole point of an open market, let the companies that are not going to make it fold. Licence the lot!

 

[Fuma]

Don't know who On Digital Media or Walk on Water are, but the later sounds scarily like a religious organisation? Can we expect to see lots of American Televangelsits promising salvation at discount rates there?

My thought exactly!
Hopefully these new operators will start operating soon (2014 that is)

 

[Pilgrim]

I think that another 4 operators is way to much. How much market share will they gain from Multichoice, little I think, and now we have 4 companies fighting for same piece of the pie where if they only licensed another 2 operators it would have been better. Think that Digital Media and Walk on Water will fold father quickly.

It is this kind of thinking that is keeping IVY and her ilk in office.

STUPID!!!!!

With just 2 operators they can EASILY fix the prices. YOU STILL HAVE NO OPTIONS. With 5 even it is very little.

As for the small piece of the pie, Nochoice serves a fraction of the entire population. There is a huge pie to be had.

FFS, open the market and let 20 or 30 operators in. Half will fold really quickly and the rest will do whatever they can to gain market share.

That is known as "Competition".

Good healthy competition. The reason competition does not work is because guv feels that only 1 or 2 players should compete in any give space.

 

[johandutoit2000]

People.... you are all missing the point. Today should always be the remembered as the day that ICASA did something. Wow!

Wish they could licence so relatively quickly in the telecom space.