The Minister of Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has disclosed that approximately one million decoders have been deactivated by DStv as part of ongoing efforts to combat cross-border piracy between Ghana and Nigeria.

Since 2017, MultiChoice has been raising alarms about decoder smuggling, which has persisted for nearly a decade, denying the government tax revenues and leaving customers without proper service support.

This issue has, for some time now, led to a series of engagements between the governments and MultiChoice.

Speaking on The Point of View on Channel One TV, Sam George emphasised the need for the government to address the persistent challenge of unauthorised decoders flooding the Ghanaian market.

“So far, DStv has deactivated close to a million ghost boxes over a period of time,” he said.

Sam George goes after 'unpatriotic' Ghanaians using Nigeria DStv decoders

He further revealed that this activity has deprived the state of tax revenue and denied unsuspecting customers access to quality customer service, which is gradually impacting Ghana’s local content creation space.

George also commended DStv’s decision to offer Ghana 33% and 50% more value on its packages, firmly dismissing suggestions that the company had introduced similar incentives in the past.

“I have heard people say that DStv has done this before; that is not correct. That is why in the press release I issued, I stated that this is unprecedented in DStv’s own marketing modules,” he added.

SP/AE

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