MultiChoice Africa have hiked subscription fees for all their bouquets by around 10 per cent on both the DStv and GOtv entertainment packages effective April 1, 2019.

In a statement availed by Multichoice Africa head of corporate affairs Mwiika Malindima, DStv subscribers will now face an upward adjustment on the DStv Access; DStv Family; DStv Compact; DStv Compact+; DStv Premium, while also having to pay a higher access fee from next Monday.

Prices go up to K115 from K105; K210 from K205; K330 from K305; K490 from K455; K850 from K795 for the DStv Access; DStv Family; DStv Compact; DStv Compact+; DStv Premium bouquets, respectively, while the access fee will be increased to K110.

But in the statement, Multichoice explained that the price increments were in response to macroeconomic fundamentals, such as currency devaluation and inflationary pressures, which were mainly felt in the last quarter of 2018.

“On 01 April, 2019, MultiChoice will implement an annual DStv subscription price adjustment in Zambia. There will be price increases implemented on the DStv Premium, DStv Compact+, DStv Compact and DStv Family, DStv Access & DStv Business packages. In the past three years, we’ve made efforts to freeze and/or decrease DStv prices and committed to holding our prices at the same level, barring any extreme factors, such as the devaluation of currency or other macro-economic headwinds,” read the statement.

“Unfortunately, because of inflation, which stands at 8.10 per cent in Zambia (for August, 2018) and the rising programming and operational costs, we’ve had to review our pricing for us to remain sustainable as a business and continue bringing our valued customers the quality video entertainment content they love – anytime, anywhere. Please be assured we’ve worked hard to keep the price increases as low as possible so that your DStv packages remain affordable and accessible to more households. We appreciate your continued support and for sharing your quality-time with us as we entertained you this past year.”