My thoughts on what Nigerians will be getting from the new indigenous pay-TV operator

So one thing that really pisses me off is how companies such as those in the Nigerian telecoms industry which I have experienced sell adverts to you with gimmicky sales pitches.

As it has come to cross my mind, TSTV seems to be going that route.

I’m not sure whether to actually overlook the situation and just applaud them for not disclosing fully the tiny details of what the service they are offering to eager Nigerians covers. Perhaps it's negligible.

But here are some observations I have found out to be about TSTV's offerings:

- You won’t be able to pause all you like

Other than the ‘7-days pause’ granted which is being reported to apply only to the N3000 monthly subscribers, it's unlikely there will be any other room for pausing subscription.

Ask me why - For a start, it won’t make business sense if you were made to pay N200 for the day subscription and extend it to say 30 months because you can ‘pause’ subscription. It clearly won't favour these guys at TSTV.

So it’s looking like a clever marketing strategy to get as many people to subscribe to the N3000 monthly plan for the added benefit of 7-days pause.

What they really are saying with 'Pay-as-you-consume' is pay according to how your pocket determines, which is why you have 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 10 days, 15 days and 30 days plans. You can be rest assured that the validity periods will stand for each plan.

- The Awoof data packages

Yes you will be getting a complimentary 20GB on purchasing the TSTV decoder.

But subsequent subscriptions will be coming with the following allocated free data per subscription validity type.

Tstv-30 (Monthly) 3000 with 10GBTstv-15 (15Days) 1500 with 5GBTstv-10 (10Days) 1000 with 3GBTstv-7 (weekly) 750 with 2GBTstv-3 (3Days) 500 with 1GBTstv-PAYGO (1Day) 200 with 500MB

You can purchase additional data at the rate of N300 for 1GB reportedly.

- The mind game

The so-called ‘Pause’ function that is being thrown around is very much linked to the PVR decoder function (Personal Video Recorder), which DSTV boasts of, allowing a subscriber greater control over his viewing experience - such that he can pause, play, rewind, forward, save and record a program of interest.

- The soccer mania

Lastly, the one that probably that's probably got Nigerian TSTV supporters most excited – the luxury of watching all the great 'footballing' action - from the EPL, FA Cup to the UEFA champion’s league and more, may just turn out to disappoint the lot. The soccer fans might just be getting their hands on select matches from these leagues as against the total package.

Why do I think so? well I do so because as far as my knowledge goes, DSTV has the rights for those premium football content until in another 5 years, but hey I may be wrong yeah.

Fingers crossed.

As much as I am fine with seeing some competitive spirit in the pay-TV space, I will not be overly sentimental about it, and just as my colleague puts it "Don't be in a hurry to roll out red carpet for TSTV."