Cable TV Distribution: Communication Council to revamp sector

A meeting of cable distributors in the country took place on Thursday July 16, 2015 in Yaounde.

The multinational cable television distributor, Canal + Afrique will soon open its services to local cable distributors. This was the outcome of a meeting between the National Communication Council and cable distributors in the country on Thursday July 16, 2015 in Yaounde. The meeting was presided at by the Vice President of the NCC, Peter Esoka.

It was a follow-up to the last one held in June 2014 on the regulation of the cable distribution sector. The main point on the agenda was the complaint of Canal + Afrique about the problem of piracy. Canal + Afrique submitted a complaint against local cable distributors in March 2015 at the National Communication Council. The multinational operator accused local cable operators of pirating channels belonging to the bouquet of Canal + Afrique and those of BEIN Media Group, owner of BEIN Sport Channels. As if that was not enough, the multinational operator took the local cable operators to court on charges of piracy and unfair competition.

Last Thursday’s meeting was an opportunity for the two sides and the National Communication Council to discuss ways and means of finding a solution to the problem. Christophe Ramos, representative of Canal + Afrique, said even though the complaint was made, the situation has not changed as local cable distributors continue to broadcast images of Super Sport and Bein Sport and other European channels which are being paid expensively by Canal + Afrique.

The local cable operators accused Canal + Afrique of monopolising the market and refusing to sell their products to them. The representative of Canal + Afrique said Canal + Afrique wants the local operators to respect the law. The case is still in court.

One of the local cable distributors, Joseph Mbock said Canal + Afrique do not want to work with the local operators whereas they want to buy programmes from Canal to serve their customers. At the end of a heated debate, the officials of Canal + Afrique said they will work with the local operators only if they meet certain conditions such as respecting the law, declaring the number of customers they have, make honest payments, are honest and transparent.

Peter Esoka expressed satisfaction as both parties agreed to meet and find a lasting solution to the situation so as to help regulate the sector. The operators had 30 days to submit their registration papers to the National Communication Council.

He assured them that if the negotiations yielded fruit, the case could be withdrawn from court.