Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has asked the standards agency to investigate the illegal importation of streaming devices that are being used on the local market to reproduce content that is exclusive to MultiChoice Uganda.
In a 13th February letter to Uganda National Bureau Standards (UNBS), UCC noted that following a complaint from MultiChoice over the illegal streaming of its exclusive content aired on DStv, it had investigated and found evidence of several devices that are being used to bypass MultiChoice systems.
In its complaint, Multichoice had told UCC that numerous entities in Uganda were importing, selling and utilizing illegal internet streaming devices and decoders to broadcast SuperSport and Bein channels in violation of the Multichoice broadcasting rights and copyrights.
MultiChoice further informed UCC that the continued existence of such devices had negatively impacted its operations and sales in Uganda.
The letter further noted that UCC had carried out an independent investigation to verify the claims, with results showing increase in penetration of numerous types and brands of illegal Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) set boxes majorly from Dubai but manufactured in China.
UCC findings reveal that, from its license and copyright documents, MultiChoice had exclusive rights to broadcast SuperSport channels on only DStv decoders through a monthly subscription arrangement with subscribers in Uganda.
Therefore, access through any other arrangement was illegal and an infringement on the business rights of MultiChoice.
However, currently, there are numerous types and brands of illegal streaming devices in the market that are used to illegally stream content that is exclusive of MultiChoice.
The investigation identified a number of decoders, among which include; Starsat SR-4060HD, Starsat SR-2090HD Extreme, Mediastar, MS-MIINI 1111 Forever, 1616, 1818, 3030, 2727, 7070, Senator Ice 2+ 1080 Mini HD, Senator TikTok Pro forever, Red Tiger Digital satellite receiver T3000, Digsat DX Mini Combo, Digsat DX 1000 and Surplus receivers.
Such decoders, MultiChoice says, continue to propagate internet piracy, which is one of the biggest threats to content owners, broadcasters and operators.
The content most often pirated via the internet is software, music, literature and video, including live sports and the latest series and movies.
MultiChoice has been struggling with piracy of its content in a number of countries where it operates, including South Africa, leading to arrests of those involved in sale and use of illegal streaming devices.
The matter is also partly blamed for the financial bleeding the MultiChoice has experienced at Group level in the last five years.
In the six months ended September, MultiChoice Group reported an after-tax loss of US$49 million, occasioned by an annualized 9% loss in subscriber numbers.
Declining pay TV subscriptions
In Uganda, the probe on illegal live streaming comes at a time when the pay television subsector is experiencing a rapid drop in subscriber numbers, which in the last two years dropped by almost a half.
UCC data has previously shown that pay television service providers have been losing subscribers, registering one of the worst drops between January 2023 and September 2024.
During the period, subscriber numbers fell by almost half, with UCC reports indicating that in the 21 months to September 2024, pay TV service providers lost about 1.3 million subscribers, representing a percentage decline of 45.8 percent, which was more than the 1.1m active subscribers as of September 2024.
The declines had been captured in at least seven UCC market performance reports, all of which, save for the quarter ended September 2023, reported a 32,000 average drop in customer numbers in each quarter.
In the 21 months, UCC data indicated that subscribers had dropped from 2.4 million in March 2023 to 1.1 million, signaling a difficult period for an industry that had previously expanded at a compound annual growth of 1.6 percent since government switched from analog to digital broadcasting in 2015.
Data also indicated that worst declines were recorded in the quarter to April 2023, with pay TV service providers losing about 800,000 subscribers, which resulted in a drop from 2.4 million customers to 1.6 million by March 2023.
However, the sector recovered, to 1.9 million subscribers in the quarter to September 2023, but again dropped by 400,000 subscribers in December 2023 to 1.5 million.
Subscriber numbers dropped further to 1.47 million in March 2024 and to 1.4 million in June, before falling further to 1.1 million in the three months to September.