Chinese TV company StarTimes is expanding its coverage across Nigeria, as part of its plan to achieve its goal of becoming a global leader in digital television services.
The expansion project, StarTimes says, is yielding results which could be seen in the increasing number of households that are connected to the digital television network. The company has since announced a 100 percent increase in the number of its subscribers in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. This was recently revealed by the Zonal Director of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Kaduna Network Center, Mallam Bala Hassan.
Speaking at an event in Kaduna, Hassan lauded the TV Company for recording such an impressive feat which proves that Nigerians are in love with the brand. He also expressed the commitment of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to ensuring that the StarTimes brand has come to stay in Nigeria.
“Where there is no NTA there is no STARTIMES and likewise, subscription of the company has increased from 20,000 to 40,000 and we need to applaud it,” he said.
According to him, NTA will soon part ways with StarTimes’ strongest competition, DSTV, since NTA currently has plans to have all of its channels on StarTimes. He said the company came to this decision after coming to terms with the current trend in global television digitalization, which is gradually spreading across the country.
Hassan added that “going digital” is in line with the commitment of Africa’s largest TV network, the NTA, to blaze the trail in digitalization compliance process in Nigeria.
He also commended the management of StarTimes for lowering the price of the company’s decoder from 7,500 naira to 2,500 naira, an impressive feat considering the high cost of production and the free maintenance service being offered by StarTimes to all of its subscribers.
Responding, the general manager of StarTimes, Oswold Idoko, affirmed that the partnership between NTA and StarTimes has come to stay. He said the company will continue to support the Nigerian government’s goal of meeting the world target of global television digitalization.
“StarTimes has already introduced three different monthly subscription packages to meet Nigerians’ choice of channels. We have also commenced a door-to-door service agent as well as a free technical maintenance services,” Oswold said.
