Tanzanian viewers who were watching Clouds TV, Channel Ten, TVE, Imaan TV and Star TV on DStv in the country can no longer do so.
MultiChoice's shock-move comes a week after Tanzania's telecommunications regulator warned that it plans to suspend MultiChoice Tanzania's pay-TV licence in the East African country over DStv Tanzania's refusal to drop its carriage of the free-to-air (FTA) TV channels available on DStv and GOtv.
In July Tanzania's Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) oddly also ordered the suspension of rival StarTimes Media Tanzania and it's satellite pay-TV service in the country - but for the opposite reason: saying that China's StarTimes also failed to keep to its licence.
MultiChoice initially said that it was concerned that the regulator planned to suspend its services over a case that was pending before Tanzania's Fair Competition Tribunal and that "while we remain open to constructive engagement, we are concerned that the notice has been issued even though the carriage of FTA services by pay-TV operators is currently pending before the Fair Competition Tribunal," MultiChoice Tanzania said.
MultiChoice Tanzania has now however caved under pressure and abruptly yanked all of the free-to-air TV channels it carried on DStv Tanzania, except for TBC1, without warning on Sunday.
MultiChoice Tanzania in a statement says that "in implementing the order from TCRA and the minister for works, transport and communication, MultiChoice Tanzania Ltd. has immediately suspended all of the free-to-air channels, except for TBC1, from its DStv decoders".
