DStv rival fight for survival

Satellite TV operator and DStv competitor StarSat is still fighting to relaunch its services after the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) shut down its operation in October 2024.
The broadcaster refused to cease operations in the country after being instructed by the regulator to do so. According to Icasa, it had failed to renew its broadcasting licence on time.
StarSat marketing manager Jan Hendrik Harmse told MyBroadband that the broadcaster is still fighting to relaunch in South Africa and has restored signal in other African countries where it operates.
“StarSat continues working diligently to relaunch its services. We will announce any changes,” said Harmse.
“StarSat would like to thank everyone for their patience.”
Icasa and law enforcement officials raided the broadcaster’s headquarters in Midrand, Gauteng, on 2 October 2024. They disconnected StarSat’s South African broadcasts and those to the rest of Africa.
“The interruptions to StarTimes’ signal in other African countries have been restored thanks to our dedicated global technical teams,” Harmse told MyBroadband.
On the day of the raid, Harmse said authorities had damaged equipment as they didn’t bring the right technicians to know what should be removed.
“They started unplugging things. They started just ripping out all the equipment we need to broadcast, not just to South Africa, but to the rest of Africa as well,” he said.
He added that StarSat had approached the courts to try and find a resolution.
“We were there this morning before Icasa arrived, but they went ahead with the search and seizure anyways, so we’re challenging that urgently,” said Harmse.
He added that even if StarSat’s urgent interdict were granted, it would face an uphill battle in assessing damage and restoring its signals.
However, in late October 2024, Icasa spokesperson Zanele Ntuli said the regulator wasn’t aware of any further legal action from StarSat, StarTimes, or On Digital Media.

MyBroadband followed up with StarSat in mid-November 2024 on its legal action against Icasa. It said the action was ongoing and that it was working to find a solution to broadcast in South Africa again.
“StarSat is still actively working on solutions to restore services. This is taking longer than anticipated, but we are not giving up,” said StarSat.
It said it was only a matter of time before StarSat started broadcasting in South Africa again.
Following StarSat’s failure to renew its licence, which had expired in July 2023, Icasa instructed it to shut down its operations on 18 September 2024.
The Electronic Communications Act stipulates that broadcasters must submit their renewal applications “no earlier than twelve months and no later than twelve months prior to the expiry of the licence”.
StarSat only submitted its application in November 2023.
The watchdog explained that it doesn’t have a mandate to consider renewals for licences that had already expired.
Harmse acknowledged that StarSat’s submission was late, explaining that it had faced various challenges leading up to the renewal application.
“We did have a deadline to meet, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we couldn’t get the right investors in, there were shareholder agreements that still needed to be finalised, and we kept communicating the issue to them,” he said.
“We kept saying it will be late if you want all the paperwork at the same time. So, we did submit late, but we submitted everything we needed to.”
He claimed that, according to the regulations, StarSat had checked all boxes and should be allowed to operate in the country. He added that Icasa wouldn’t hear it out.