Kenya Broadcasting Corp and MultiChoice face competition probe
Rebecca Hawkes ©RapidTVNews | 22-02-2012
The Wananchi Group, which operates pay-TV operator Zuku TV, has requested the Competition Authority investigate allegations of an abuse of market dominance by public broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
KBC is accused of preventing Zuku joining the state-owned national digital broadcasting platform Signet in favour of the DStv pay-TV service operated by its rival MultiChoice Kenya, in which KBC holds a 40% stake.
The low cost MultiChoice Kenya service GOtv was launched in September 2011 on the Signet platform – which is a cheaper distribution platform than the cable and satellite systems utilised by Zuku TV.
Wananchi claims this move provided DStv with an edge in the market, and prevented Zuku from reaching a mass market in Kenya.
"KBC is a national broadcaster and its signals should be available to all operators but this is not what is happening," Wananchi Group chief executive Richard Bell told the Business Daily.
"We have been trying to get on the Signet platform for one year without success, yet our rival has been granted an opportunity to do so."
Signet, a subsidiary of KBC, was formed by the government in 2009 to host and transmit broadcast content from television stations operating in Kenya.
MultiChoice Kenya confirmed that it has received a letter from the Competition Authority advising that it's "conducting an investigation into conduct of firms and persons involved in or connected to the pay TV sub-sector," according to Business News.
DStv is already being investigated by the Competition Authority following the recent collapse of its rival Smart TV and that of GTV in 2009.
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