Lobby group to sue CCK for defaulting on television deal

A consumer lobby has threatened to sue the Communications Commission of Kenya if it does not withdraw a directive issued to pay-TV firms that could deny subscribers unlimited access to free-to-air channels.

Consumer Federation of Kenya secretary-general Stephen Mutoro, in an interview with the Sunday Nation, said the CCK position goes against the basic right to information and only confirms fears that the commission does not have consumers’ interests at heart.

“We do not agree with CCK’s position. They gave assurance that everyone would continue enjoying the free-to-air channels even after their pay-TV subscription expires. To go back on such a promise would be mischievous,” Mr Mutoro said.

He said the lobby has given the government a grace period of 15 days to clarify its position and give consumers back their right to information, failure of which they will seek legal redress.

“We will definitely fight it. If they don’t clear up the matter in 15 days, we will go to court,” insisted Mr Mutoro.

In a communication to pay-TV provideres operating in Kenya, CCK instructed them to allow those subscribers who fail to pay their fees only two weeks’ access to free-to-air channels after which they would be switched off.

The move is likely to cause public outcry as the latest twist in the long-running battle over digital migration.

“Customers who fail to pay subscription fees on time will continue to access the must-carry free-to-air services (FTA) for a period of at least two weeks,” read a letter from CCK director-general Francis Wangusi (pictured, below left) to pay-TV providers.

Through the letter, CCK is reneging on an earlier agreement with Cofek that made it compulsory for pay-TV companies to give subscribers access to all free-to-air channels, even without a paid-up subscription.

This agreement saw the providers introduce a new range of decoders that would allow customers view all the FTA channels – KBC, NTV, KTN, K24 and Citizen TV for free.

The planned migration from analogue to digital broadcasting has seen consumers rush to acquire pay-TV services, especially from Chinese firm Star Times and the Multichoice-owned GOtv.

“Digital migration does not mean paying monthly fees to watch TV programmes. Consumers who may not want to subscribe to pay-tv have the option of purchasing free-to-air set-top boxes,” reads a message on CCK’s website.

However, according CCK statistics, of the 566,000 set-top boxes in Nairobi, only 26,538 are adaptable to free-to-air transmissions. 

The Court of Appeal on December 27th 2013 forced the CCK to turn the analogue television signal back on in Nairobi for 45 days pending determination of an appeal lodged by the three leading media houses Nation Media Group, Royal Media Services and the Standard Group challenging the switch-off on grounds of unaffordability and shortfalls in the policy guiding the process.

The switch-off in Nairobi County also affected neighbouring Kiambu, Machakos, Kajiado, and Embu counties.