MultiChoice Zimbabwe last week officially launched the DStv Explora in Zimbabwe and the official Zimbabwe price of $425 was a talking point compared to regional prices. As a follow-up, we have compiled regional DStv subscription rates across the 5 most popular bouquets.
More countries will be added and updated continuously and you can visit our Data and Research page for more comparisons.
| Country | Access (USD) | Family (USD) | Compact (USD) | Compact Plus (USD) | Premium (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zimbabwe | US$10 | US$20 | US$32 | US$52 | US$72 |
| South Africa | (US$9.29) | R175 (US$16.43) | R275 (US$25.81) | N/A | R625 (US$58.67) |
| Botswana | P80 (US$8.92) | P140 (US$15.61) | P230 (US$25.64) | P365 (US$40.70) | P535 (US$59.65) |
| Zambia | K 55.6 (US$10.06) | K 111.2 (US$20.12) | K 172.36 (US$31.19) | K 289.12 (US$52.32) | K 450.36 (US$81.49) |
| Namibia | N$80 (US$7.51) | N$156 (US$14.64) | N$290 (US$27.22) | N/A | N$620 (US$58.20) |
| Kenya | Kshs. 880 (US$10.09) | Kshs. 1760 (US$20.19) | Kshs. 2816 (US$32.30) | Kshs. 4576 (US$52.48) | Kshs. 7216 (US$82.76) |
| Mozambique | US$11 | N/A | US$30 | US$67 | US$81 |
| Nigeria | N1800 (US$11.20) | N3000 (US$18.66) | N5000 (US$31.10) | N7850 (US$48.83) | N11650 (US$72.46) |
| Ghana | GHC 23 (US$9.58) | GHC 46 (US$19.17) | GHC 76 (US$31.67) | GHC 120 (US$50) | GHC 189 (US$78.75) |
| Tanzania | TSH 16500 (US$10) | TSH 33000 (US$19.99) | TSH 52500 (US$31.80) | TSH 85000 (US$51.49) | TSH 134000 (US$81.18) |
| Swaziland | E110 (US$10.33) | E175 (US$16.43) | E275 (25.81) | E440 (41.30) | E625 (58.67) |
| Uganda | USH 354500 | USH 360000 | USH 380000 | USH 401600 | USH 425000 |
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43 comments
DSTV should now start the usage-based billing. Who regulates these guys? Imagine with ZESA outages in Zimbabwe I connect to DSTV for 2 hours only a day. If I go out of the country two days after paying my bouquet, spend 15 days outside, I will still incur same costs.
You should ask Multichoice. As I recall you can call to suspend/freeze your account if you wish.
You are right Ana that is possible
they only suspend for dstv decoders that are being repaird
the solution is dont pay your bill until you want to be reconnected…
You can suspend/disconnect your account anytime as long as it is active ie you are subscribed.
I know of suspension, but sometimes when I get out of Zim I wont be sure how long I will take. I cant always do on off all the time. I technology allows why is there no the option of pay as you go. U call multichoice Zim, they take 7minutes with someone on the call. They close doors at 7pm. No guys.
the problem is that the Zesa issue only (or mostly) affects Zimbos, not the rest of their target market (africa). And just by guestimating, you will notice that Zim is a very small portion of their market, so they are not likely to change their systems to suit this small section of their market.
same story with the travel thingy, if you travel that often, then dont subscribe (or you can take your decoder with hahahaha)
You should come to Nigeria, You will be surprised at how they charge, from selling decoders, (explora et al) to monthly subscriptions.To cap it all, they kinda have monopoly of the market with thier DSTV and GoTV, so we are stuck with them.
the big problem is how can they reasonably detect when you using the decoder or not – the signal is one way (downlink) all they do to suspend is block the dstv card from accessing the signal, theres no way to transmit back to base/multichoice whether you are watching or not and what you are watching
pay per view on the other hand normally uses your telephone line or internet connection to arrange the transaction
DSTv shouldn’t adopt to a usage based system even though I agree that the subscription cost is too high. would be a bit impractical as it costs more to have a usage based bill. It is almost like micromanaging, just a waste of resources and money.
Please give us pay-per-view
Pay-per-view is VERY expensive my friend. As an example….the Mayweather -Alvarez fight cost as much as $75 in the States but we watched it on a full DSTV premium package which cost us about the same amount for a whole month.
You are right. People just want things they do not understand. Anything that gives customer power in terms of making revenue ends up costing the customer more. Its like contract and prepaid customers in telecoms, contract customers are charged a bit less than prepaid coz they are guaranteed revenue, unlike prepaid which is not so guaranteed. People just hear pay per view and then they go on and say they want without even understanding what the implications are.
As it stands DSTV is very much affordable and very cheap. You want pay per view, first of all check what the prices are in the states or online for pay per view screenings then you will understand what it costs.
People should just hearing terms and saying that is what they want.!!!
it works out cheaper to buy a generator and subscribe dstv and watch the prem league, than watching the whole season of the premier league on pay per view.
Not happening. This debate is currently raging here in SA as people feel that they get channels they do not need ie why get sport when you only want movies or rugby (SS1) only and no soccer (SS3). But MC said it will cost and arm and a leg to split the channels and it does not benefit them as a business model to split the channels.bundling is the best way to make money. Also people have complained a lot especially online about the bundlking and repeats:
http://hellopeter.com/multichoice/complaints/repeat-repeat-repeat-991645
Read this article on the bundling issue though a bit old
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadcasting/15710-Choosing-your-own-DStv-channels-MultiChoice-explains.html
Also this article seems to say that MNet costs almost half the premium bouquet
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadcasting/73260-dstv-premium-half-price-package-explained.html
So how much do you think you will pay for SS3? 😛
Am willing to pay $40 for all Soccer channels!
I agree with you man.
kungorohwa pasi petsoka
What is your proposal??
$50 the whole year for zbc, you are not forced to pay.
You think you are being ripped off, then do not pay and shut the hell up.
This is da same thing ZESA does.They dnt have competition dats why dey dictate and you are forced to subscribe since u will have no option. Wait till a cheaper way to watch channels is introduced dey will look 4 us even under water. As for ZTV I dnt think there will b ever an improvement on that channel. Its actually a nightmare of a station which made everyone purchase a freeair channel decoder.
Guys have you never heard of card sharing????
No I haven’t. How does it work?
its impossible now that cards are tied to decoders – you would have to “share” the whole decoder
That doesn’t work now!
Card sharing………wow. Yiyo
Dstv is ripping us off. I dont seem to see the value for money as they are constantly repeating the same stuff especially movies. If we are paying so much they should give us value for our hard earned money.
DSTV is not reaping anyone off, it is offering a service and people are making an effort to drive their own cars with their own monies and fuel they bought themselves to make payments to dstv, I do not see how that is reaping anyone off.
This is not food, you think you are being ripped off, then buy a filibao.
Is Compact Plus the same as Extra?
No it’s not. The compact in Zim has no sport so the plus, gives you two or three sports channels.
The SA Compact is not the same as the Zim Compact coz the latter has no SS3 and the other sports channels…However, its comparable to Zim’s Compact Plus
My grip with paying DSTV, besides paying for 99% garbage, is the bank surcharge. What right do banks have to charge extra, just because it is dstv?
please show us when you want to watch only premium league how much are you supposed to pay
Tele 10, the MC agent in Rwanda has the highest dstv prices. The Premium currently stands at about US$107 (Rwf74000). Compact Plus costs about $66, more than Premium in SA, Botswana and Swaziland. It’s robbery!!
How is that robbery, I do not understand you people.
Is DSTV forcing you to make payments to them or you are going there yourself?
if DSTV is too expensive for you then don’t go there, simple as that.
the only useful channel is ss1 they shuold make it a lone package .
Get dstv accounts with SS3 .SS4 .SS9 and SSselect.call 0713494502..wherever you are w3 save you. .
Reduce the premium subscriptions to 30 dollars and i assure you more than 12million Kenyans will subscribe to it especially the middle class which is increasing every day and night
Please introduce online payments for DStv subscription in Mozambique
The monopoly of dstv in Nigeria is what is causing the exploitation,please great Nigerians step into satellite business and quite this Dstv out of Nigeria!
Please give me the list of channels in package of mine fo which u are charging $35
is too mache
if you want all super sport only it possibon?