AfricaCast 2011: Each with their own nuances, Africa's broadcasting regulators present varied challenges for pay TV operators.

Pay TV operators across Africa have to contend with a myriad of regulators, intricate regulatory frameworks that differ from country to country, and regulators who often move and react so slowly that they're often hampering growth in television broadcasting markets across the continent.

So how do pay TV operators in Africa deal effectively with regulators that differ from country to country and navigate this complex relationship?

At the AfricaCast 2011 TV summit that kicked off today in Cape Town as part of the 14th AfricaCom conference, I asked Chris Oberholzer, the head of strategy and development at the South African satellite broadcaster MultiChoice, how pay TV companies in Africa feel about, and how they see, the complex relationship with regulators across the continent who make the rules that they eventually have to follow.

''When it comes to regulation and regulators in Africa's TV market, each television market's got its own nuances, it's own regulators and it's own regulatory agenda,'' said Chris Oberholzer who was one of the speakers at AfricaCast 2011 today.

''If we look at just South Africa, we haven't been able to come up with a policy around set top box (STB) control for digital television at this stage yet. From a regulatory point of view it's very difficult to navigate that area. But having said that, ultimately the environments that make structural development a regulatory priority will be the winners.''