South African communications minister Dina Pule has proposed the introduction of a new set of guidelines to open up access to premium sports television rights in the country, according to the TechCentral website.
Pule said in parliament she intends to work with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, regulator of the telecommunication and broadcast sectors in the country, in order to address competition in the broadcast spectrum.
“As part of our efforts to increase competition in the broadcasting area, I intend issuing a policy directive in the second quarter of 2013-14 to ICASA to issue a regulation on market definition for wholesale access to premium TV content to address market competition,” Pule said.
Current market leader, pay-television operator MultiChoice, owns digital satellite television service DStv and has exclusive deals with the most popular sports content providers, including rights to South Africa’s Premier Soccer League. However, it could be forced to make such premium content available to rivals if Pule’s proposals are put in place.
Jackie Rakitla, general manager of MultiChoice, said his company intends to make a “written representation” about the policy directive propose by Pule when it is published for public comments. He declined to make any further comment at this stage.