The audacity! If I wasn’t into Premier League football or addicted to E!, I would have thrown my DStv decoder into the bin. Although I’m yet to receive a notification from DStv regarding the adjustment of its subscription rates, I’m trying to rationalise this decision from the cable provider on top of their poor service.

Pls, we need to do somthing about this #dstv monopoly of the cable TV network. It leads to exploitation. A rather unhealthy exploitation

— Izzy (@IsholaAgbola) July 10, 2018

Come August 1, subscribers to varying DStv packages will grind their teeth as they pay a new stipulated charge, unanimously taken by MultiChoice to fleece us into a coma. Premium will see a price increase from N14,700 to N15,800; Compact Plus from N9,900 to N10,650; Compact from N6,300 to N6,800; Family from N3,800 to N4,000; and Access from N1,900 to N2000.

What exactly is the reason for this increase? Your channels are not so interesting yet you all extort us. Time we stopped subscribing after this month. @DStvNg #DStv

— chinwe (@chinwea6) July 9, 2018

Conversely, DSTv’s cable twin service GOtv will slash its rates for its subscribers, which is something I’m yet to understand. GOtv Max package subscribers will enjoy a decrease from N3,800 to N3,200 while prices on GOtv Plus, GOtv Value and GOtv Lite packages will remain fixed at N1,900, N1,250 and N400 respectively.

Guys we need to boycott #DStv this craze is going too far

— OneMessut (@Slimrotimi) July 9, 2018

E no go better for @tstvafrica for giving Nigerians false hopes. #DSTV

— Heyrun (@Heybarke) July 10, 2018

Even though the Nigerian cable landscape has welcomed new players, the DStv monopoly is only so strong. With its flat-fee price model, subscribers renew subscription monthly as opposed to the pay-as-you-go system some cable service have adopted. This will not be the first time MultiChoice will cruelly adjust the prices of ita DStv packages. And until a DStv-adjacent player steps into the field, we will continue to endure unfair price hikes.