Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations Samuel Nartey George has signaled an end in sight of the seeming impasse between government and Multichoice Ghana, operators of DStv over pricing. The minister had demanded a 30% downward review of the subscription fee for the pay to view television network. Management of DStv was however adamant in ceding to the demand of the minister leading to imposition if daily fines over failure on the .
The 30-day deadline given to MultiChoice by the NCA expires on the 6th September 2025 which is tomorrow. However ahead of the expiration, Sam George says management of DStv has reached out to drop prices. Consequently the minister has set up a committee chaired by him to oversee the implementation of the price reduction. Addressing the media, Sam George however assured the 30% request will be insisted upon regardless of the recent depreciation of the cedi.
“It would be recalled that the NCA had requested for a breakdown of the cost build up for the various bouquet offerings by MultiChoice in Ghana and in seven other African countries on the 4th of August 2025. That information had not been delivered by MultiChoice. Consequently, the Regulator imposed a GHS10,000 daily fine effective 14th August 2025 in line with Electronic Communications Act. The regulator also served a 30-day notice of suspension effective 7th August 2025.” He said.
“However, ahead of the expiration of the suspension notice tomorrow, MultiChoice has now indicated its commitment to addressing the pricing concerns through a consultative process as was adopted by the Ministry for the mobile data pricing reduction which was implemented on 1st July, 2025” He added
“Consequently, I have established a Stakeholder Committee comprising representatives from:
- The Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation (MoCDTI)
- -The National Authority (NCA)
- -MultiChoice Ghana
- -MultiChoice Africa
This Committee will be chaired by me. Even though Multichoice requested for a further 30-days for the consultative process, I can only grant them 14 days as I believe that is sufficient enough to agree on the percentage of reduction. Therefore, the Committee has a strict 14-day mandate inclusive of weekends to conclude its work and present a suitable price reduction structure for the people of Ghana by 21st September, 2025” He stated
Sam George added the government is mindful of the impending takeover of MultiChoice Africa by Canal+ at the end of September 2025. He disclosed engagements have been held with Canal+, with emphasis placed on the need to respect any pricing reduction decisions and to consider further reductions in the future, if necessary. According to him he has received assurances from the management of Canal+ to respect the outcome of the stakeholder committee and work with government to address revenue losses occasioned by the grey market decoders.
