₦airaland Forum

courage89:
They’ve constructed a risk ranking based on seven indicators: current account financing gap, FX reserves/short-term external debt ratio, exports to-GDP ratio, private credit-to-GDP ratio, private credit growth, loans-to deposits ratio and banks capital-to-assets ratio.

Using those indicators, it can be seen why they could conclude that Nigeria is the safest economy

1. our FX reserves are at an all time high, we settled some major debts during OBJ's tenure,
2. we don't export much apart from oil and most of our products are consumed internally meaning that external influences cannot affect them adversely.
3. Our banks don't give out much credit so we are not likely to experience any sub-prime like crisis soon.
4. With the banking consolidation, our banks have become much stronger and "seem" to be practicing better risk management practices

indeed our economy has reached a sort of steady state which I feel can only be upset to go on a major downturn by a major shift in the Oil and gas sector (which is possible if a major breakthrough in green technology occurs) or go on an incline when we become more self sustaining by a major stimulation of our manufacturing sector by a government with some vision.

Our economy is mostly isolated from the global economy in terms of our income apart from Oil & Gas which will always be in demand provided all other things remain equal, this will however not remain the same for example if Obama keeps to the campaign promises of opening up the american oil reserves.

Most other nation's economies are tightly linked to the American economy which has taken a battering and will require some time to recover, some countries like Ireland where I live depend so much on the American economy that they will have to borrow money from the European Central bank to finance their next year's budget while the emerging eurozone and Chinese economies are still "emerging" and are still tightly coupled to the American economy particularly the Chinese economy which is mostly a production and export oriented economy (the exact opposite of the Nigerian economy).

In fact, at the start of the dollar's free fall, some economists postulated that it was an attempt by the USA to halt China's rapid economic expansion  but that was before the problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made it obvious that there were more fundamental problems that needed to be corrected.

The guy who gave the analogy of a parked car in the garage wasn't too far from the truth, infact he did hit the nail on the head but I guess his cheeky tone upset some blokes.  I say this because:

1. Our FX reserves make us credit worthy but we have an apathy towards taking on more debt because our experience with the  Paris club, London club and IMF is still very fresh in the memory but without this massive injection of capital some of our major problems will remain with us (only problem is that taking on more debt does not guarantee their solution as we are all aware of our corruption albatross). So while we choose the  safe option, we are missing out on opportunities to further stimulate redundant sectors of our economy and becoming a major world player in the process.

2. Our economy remains subject to fluctuations in the oil market, giving us a window of 40 years to diversify our economy (if those who estimated our oil reserves are to be beleived) or till the moment any distruptive alternative energy discovery becomes a mainstream product which reduces the need for oil. Your guess is as good as mine of what will happen to our dear country if this should happen as Zimbabwe might only be a tip of the ice berg that a Nigerian economic crisis would be if such a thing happens. If it becomes that bad, we can always go back to the farms and become a total agrarian society again.

3. Provision of credit by our banks to both private individuals and businesses alike while increasing their risk exposure, also stimulates spending and the concurrent circulation of money in turn stimulates job creation leading to an active economy. It is akin to storing your money in a hole in the ground where you are sure you can dig it up again rather than starting a trade with it where you could lose money with unlimited liability

4. Good risk management practices by our banks will keep all our minds at rest but there is a risk of banks becoming too conservative in their approach to provision of credit facilities with resulting economic stagnation.


Bottom line is that, the Merryl Lynch pronouncement is yet another case of the glass being half full or half empty as it is a matter of perspective and gives room for sentiments of either misplaced patriotism/optimism or misplaced skepticsm. The study is meant to provide investors with information to inluence their decisions and it should "ideally" make Nigeria attractive to investors but it has not examined other non numerical indicators such as the legal framework for business, insurance, regulation, infrastructure e.t.c. which are collectively called "The Nigerian Factor" which any intending investor would do well to get up to speed with before committing capital.

bastrin:
I'm disapntd wit most of u guys. 'm not sayin it was good beatin d girl up, but her standin up against an authority is senseless. Which of U can actually do such a stupid thing.

A lot of us are disappointed in you too Bastrin, but it is good to see a more conciliatory tone from you possibly an indication of some remorse and a change of ways?

I would however like to make some corrections to the distortions in your perception of this issue:

1. The soon to be Rear-Admiral's authority does not exceed his command and the naval barracks or force as the case may be. If this happened in the naval barracks or even within a goverment restricted area, there might be a possibility of arguing a probable cause as I pointed out in the case involving Uzoma's father. The incident happened on a public through fare where even within the context of the law, the navy has no right to even regulate traffic movement which is solely the job of the police.

2. I agree with you that we do not all have the same quantum of courage, will power or strenght of character but that does not give anyone the right to denigrate or belittle anyone who takes a stand for what they beleive in even if you in the same circumstance would have gone for the "safe" option of submission which is not always safe as the Okada rider who was killed while begging Lt. Felix Odunlami knows. This mindset is one of the major problems in our society which is unwilling to accept that not every one thinks the same way.

I will give you a good scenario, if armed robbers go to a house, the common knowledge is to give them what they want and let them leave in peace but I tell you there are people who have resisted them and perished, some have resisted them and prevailed , some have followed the common knowledge and survived while some have also followed the common knowledge and still perished. In such a situation there is no one right answer, it all depends on individual courage and God's providence.

bastrin:
If we really won't to stop such brutality we shld start wit d policemen that beat u up 4 no reason ranging from not cooperating (givin them #20) to not havin dia village papers for ur car,or dos that kill innocent citizens n do away with dia valueables claimin robbery suspects.
At this point I'll like to say that if u want to cut down a tree, u've to destroy its roots if not in a mata of time it will be bak. All I'm tryin to say is if we must fight we've to get dwn to its roots.

I concur with you that every appearance of such high handedness should be dealt with as appropriate but I fail to see how your contributions on this site achieves that, you seem to be encouraging cowardliness and inaction which would only further embolden such people.

bastrin:
There r beta ways for us to mete out our anger oda dan d support of outright show of stupidity.

Consider what I've written above and numerous posts by others, if you then still feel it is still a show of stupidity then let us agree to disagree. I beleive we all have a right to be "stupid" as long as our "stupidity" does not affect you in any way, shape or form.

bastrin:
I will also lik to mention that in as much as we have our various opinion about this issue, we shld show respect for each oda n stop all d abuses. After all we all claim to b civilised n educated.

It is always nice to see a reformed warlord and rabble rouser renounce his ways and become a peace maker, if you were referring to what I wrote about you earlier I can assure you that it will be withdrawn with full apologies when you withdraw what you wrote about Uzoma also with full apologies. Yes we are all educated and civilized but we also have our roots in Nigeria and know where we come from fully understanding our macro environment and its various characters as well as how to interact with them. As Fela said, "I no be gentle man like dat".

@folos,

While what you have heard and your assumptions may be true, partly true or totally false it has no bearing on the issue as it is now. The reason why this case has garnered so much support is the graphic details available in the recording which should be a repulsion to any right thinking person.

We may or may not be able to change what has happened in the past or will still happen in the future but with what we have in the public domain at present, justice must be served or the man would have died in anyone who watches that clip and chooses to keep quiet or revel in mediocrity and abrasivenes like Bastrin et al.

While I don't support any form of official violence whatsoever, Uzoma's father may argue the case that those atrocities he was accused of happened in his place of work and between you and I (since we werent there) he can put up a case that there was a real and present threat to the National Assembly that necessitated such an action but what can you say about this which happened in a totally public place where this Rear Admiral really had no authority within the law to exercise his strong arm tactics.

If there is a tape showing Uzoma's father responsible for anyone being humiliated the way she was, please let it come into the public domain and then watch out for people's reaction but until that time please let us not cloud the main issue at stake which is that a lesson must be taught this uniformed men and a precedent laid so that if we cannot eliminate this completely we can at least reduce it because all uniformed men will consider what happened to these guys anytime they are in such a situation rather than the influence peddling and power show we all seem to have become accustomed to in Nigeria.

A time always comes when people have had enough and this seems to be that time.

bastrin:


Yes O! I heard they've settled her with one bag of rice, two bags of Garri half Carton of fish n two tins of palm oil from the gov of ,

What you forgot to mention was that you were the stupid alaaru who was sent to deliver it to her house but lily-livered coward that you were ran away from her house and fell in the gutter in your haste when the dogs in the street who couldn't bear the foul stench of your putrid brain raised a cacophony.

We would have raised a collection for you in sympathy but consider it a good thing that you are halfway to where you truly belong seeing as it is that you will soon be evaluated by a psychiatrist in the hospital and commited to an institution for the insane where you and your ilk belong.

bastrin:

please do me a favour, just in case we lose track of this event u can email me n tell me of d out come I just hope Naija won't disappoint u again. U Say our military men r elementary sch drop outs fine but des same drop out have bn ruling us since d beginning of life n r still in charge if u don't know or did u ever think in ur life that Yar'adua cld win that electn if not 4 obj? I think history shld be studied by evry one so some graduates wit elementary brain will know that time is of imptnce for change n we r not dia yet in this country.

So what exactly are you saying? because it is not yet time for change, we should all keep quiet at a brazen affront to our decency as a people?
Are you aware that change will never come if nobody takes a stand against oppression and its associated symptoms?
Are you aware that Obama's ascendancy to the presidency in 2008 started with a woman refusing to follow the accepted oppresive law in the USA in the 1960s (that was about 48 years ago).
I dare to say that Nigeria is the way it is because we still have a lot of lily-livered cowards like you.
I really don't understand you and you are talking rubbish, kpoto kpoto yarns as some of my friends will call it.

My school always closed at 4:00pm and I had to walk home so I always arrived just when it was over and used to have my elder siblings who were going to another school recount the day's episode for me. I think I caught only 1 or 2 shows but I always knew the story. Spent some time drawing the lions with some classmates while at boarding house in secondary school (FGC Ido-Ani). I do remember one plot line where the lions were split and placed near their enemy elements (i.e the blue lion with fire, the red lion with water e.t.c). And all those funny "Robeasts", they always went down to the blazin sword.

Sure,

cos we always have squads we can blab about and of course we've got a potent weapon
in the complete manager.

Always remember this, ARSENE KNOWS!!!

Manna from heaven, Wind of Change,

hmmmm, trust my naija pple to come up with a religious angle to everything.
You never know, some "pastors" might just tell us that was some people's breakthrough.

Seems like they briefly tested Primetime TV and Nigezie last week I really hope they add them to the bouquet soon, They are obviously close to adding ART Movies 2 (though I wonder if it is worth watchin since the adverts and prior info I have seems to suggest the channel will only show Arabic movies though Im sure our muslim brethren will like it)

@dekin
They definitely have more than 11 channels (you might try rescanning every now and then to keep up to date since their over the air (OTA) updates are not working yet) and their pictures definitely do not break up every now and then or at least not as bad as you put it (you might want to check out if your dish is properly aligned to the satellite)

@Medube
I think for now they are restricted to the 11900 with Horizontal polarization frequency Transponder alone though they may add additional transponders later without informing anyone.

I really look forward to when they will start their Over the air update feature.

tboy81:
BTW - I'm not a satellite person, so i want to ask which one will be cheaper for them in the long run ; installng more repeater stations all across the nation for viewers outside lagos to view their terrestial cable channels or get more satellite transponders on lease?

It would be extremely difficult if not near impossible for them to cover the entire nation via hypercable but it would be more reasonable for them to focus on high density areas such as lagos initially and do a gradual penetration while Satellite allows them cover the whole country at a higher Total cost of operation (TCO) though funny enough the initial cost for roll out on satellite might even be less than for hypercable but the advantage of hypercable is in the long term since they will not need to keep paying leasing charges.

You are very right, they will definitely need to get more satellite transponders leased in the long run if they are to compete favourably with DSTV outside Lagos. I beleive hypercable will be restricted to high density/high income areas like Lagos, ABJ, PHC e.t.c and the penetration will be gradual just like GSM (they might even co-locate on some existing GSM operator base stations)

@ahf

I don't think your picture should be breaking since we are getting our service from the same satellite, you might want to get you reseller come and calibrate your dish well. I repeat "My picture never breaks up on HITV even when it is raining cats and dogs" and I stay in Osogbo, Osun State presently. It is possible you might be experiencing some obstruction (Is there any tall building or obstacle near you location?)

tboy81:
I also noticed that DSTV Shuffle Channel too.

Cool, nice to know there are other channel snoops like me

tboy81:
Well, if all they offer us on the satellite package is 15 channels while those on the terrestial cable get 20+ channels, then that will unfair because' it's the same subscription fee we pay and even the setup cost is the same.

You have a good point there and they should find a way to even things between both offerings soon but there is a major difference in the TCO of both platforms:

1. They don't pay a leasing fee for their hypercable system since the system belongs to them once they deploy it hence they can get a good ROI over the life time of the system not counting the fact that it has much more bandwidth available with the capacity to deliver over 400 channels without any additional payment or use the spare capacity for internet and other multimedia services

tboy81:
Also some of the information on their website are outdated. Under their FAQs, they still say the service is only available in Lagos presently, CNN is still listed amongst their list of channels.

Their webmaster obviously does not know his onions maybe we should recommend our dear Seun to Mr. Subair?

tboy81:
If they'll be that disparity in the number of channels, then those on the satellite package should be pay a lesser subscription rate.

I'll join you on that aluta anyday, I got your back on this one but consider what I wrote earlier before we set out on that course of action.

tboy81:
BTW, this hisports channel that has been showing 'scrambled' for weeks now, does that mean that those on the satellite package were not able to watch matches on that channel over the weekend when they were showing 3 simulataneous matches? (e.g Boro vs Sunderland & Bolton vs Tottenham)

You are very right o, couldn't watch the match but I didn't need to I was busy screaming Adebayoooor and Fabreeegas so I didn't miss anything.

tboy81:
I just hope they'll not put any Manchester United /Arsenal/Chelsea Match on that channel pending when they sort things out.

Amen, Ameen and another Ameeeen to that I'm very sure they won't since Mr. Subair won't want to become public enemy number one.

@tboy81

So nice you noticed their picture quality, that is one of the few improvements they seem to have over DSTV, there is no rain fade issue here unlike with DSTV (though I have an hypothesis that the satellite transponders they use are more powerful than those of DSTV because HiTV signal strength ranges from about 89% - 92% with good weather and experiences some loss when it is raining while some DSTV channels are as low as 62% with good weather.

About the number of channels on the satellite package, I just noticed their website stated 15 channels though they retained the right to remove, add and replace channels.

Nickelodeon was a welcomed addition last week but I'm looking forward to them adding Hi-Mix and MTV base to the bouquet

By the way, I thot I had gotten a Free To Air TV channel over the weekend only to find out it was a DSTV channel from which they were explaining their upcoming Channel Shuffle on the 4th of October (I can't explain why they didnt encrypt it with their Irdeto security anyway. It had a video clip with a pretty chic explaining the whole channel shuffle thing on an endless loop. You can get the channel if you do an automatic scan for Free channels on the Eutelsat W4 satellite on your decoder.

@Bigtee

That is definitely the status of things at my end, and I do rescan my Decoder at least twice a day so I should be up to date.

Something just struck me however while going through the HITV website again, the premium Satellite channel is supposed to have only 15 channels including all sport's channels (I'm not sure if this was a later modification however since I don't recall noticing that originally)

If that is the case, the only channels still completely missing are MTV base, Hi-Mix and Nigezie; I don't understand why Hi-Sports is still scrambled, why E! losses the video stream or why Hi-Mix is not available yet since it is their own channel.

That would definitely be another advantage of the terrestrial package over the satellite package since it has more channels. I can understand why they would do this though (it costs much to lease KU satellite transponders as I've noticed HITV has only one while DSTV has between 4-6 on the Eutelsat W4 satellite)

@Jibolala

Bigtee is definitely right, just rescan your decoder (I got Nickelodeon for the first time on Friday Night when I scanned my decoder after getting home from work)

@ayusman 16

On the contrary, I'm not a staff of HiTV I'm just a bit nerdy (I decided to increase my knowledge of satellite technology when I bought my 'own' HiTV equipment as my earlier attempt with my folk's DSTV when I was younger were hotly rebuffed due to similar incidents to what happend to me earlier).

I'm however very happy I was able to be of some help and hope some of the points medube and myself made will help some other people out there (Let us not forget to thank Seun who made the forum possible too).

It seems you're not so annoyed with the HiTV guys anymore, I really hope they get some form of feedback from this forum.

By the way, did you see how we ate the spuds raw on saturday? Our next stop is to go and give the Mancs a red eye in their "Old Toilet"

Gooner 4 life.

@Salvage

The free channels might not be available now due to the fact that there are not many Free to Air (FTA) channels on the EutelsatW4 satellite used by both DSTV and HiTV unlike the PAS7/10 (now IS9 and IS10) satellites used by the MyTV service which has a lot of them. I have acually scanned and only came up with a FTA radio channel (Radio Okapi) which seems to be broadcasting from Congo DRC as they play a lot of Soukous/Makossa music there.

By the way, do you use the satellite or the cable platform? as CNBC Africa is not yet available on my decoder (I use the satellite service)

Guyz,

My hypothesis worked like a dream I'm back to the old firmware and my HiTV channels are back up.
The access problems most people are experiencing is definitely firmware related. The firmware version that works on my SRT 4652 model is version 1.52p (August 14 2006) U can check it out under system information on your decoder menu.
If you don't have this version, just look for a functional MyTV decoder and do a data transfer from that decoder to yours (Main Menu - System setting - Data transfer - firmware) but make sure it is the same model.

All you will need is either a straight serial cable with a null modem converter ( the type I used) or a crossed serial cable like the type that comes with Mercury UPS ( the type medube used) to link both decoders through their serial ports.

Now to go get rid of the spuds tomorrow, Arsenal reigns supreme.

@medube, @ilugunboy and @ayusman

So funny I finally landed myself in the same situation as you're all in due to my being inquisitive, you would recall that I said the problem had been resolved at my end since saturday but it resurfaced yesterday (after I upgraded my firmware to the latest version on strong's website as medube did earlier).

My conclusion is that the application running on the smartcard which is the credential to access the hitv transmission streams was written to target the strong firmware customized for MyTV. I used to see a start-up banner when I put on my decoder with the MyTV elephant symbol on it but after I upgraded my firmware what I now see is a Strong start-up banner.

Seems that some firmware level interfaces have changed between the MyTV customized firmware (dated september 2006 if I recall correctly) and the updated firmware on Strong's website which have made it incompatible with the access program on the HiTV smartcard.

What I aim to do later in the day is to get a functional MyTV decoder Strong 4652x and transfer the firmware to mine (thereby reverting back to my old firmware version) since there are two ways you can change your Decoder firmware (PC to Decoder and Decoder to Decoder).

I will get back to you all if this works out.

NB: Pls don't pity me yet at least until I find out I have to get a new decoder

@medube
Your situation might be a bit different since you seem to have a 4653 series decoder and I'm not sure if they can use the same firmware files with the 4652 series which seems to be the most popular STB used with MyTV's service. If you can however get a 4653 series decoder with MyTV's firmware, it may be worth a try. Just check the system settings in the decoder menu (I access mine by keying in code 0000 which is the default code).

@ilugunboy

Perhaps, I'm not as annoyed as you are because I had the access problem only for a day as I explained above but I'll just stop short of calling them 'rip-offs' though I am not really enjoying my subscription as their bouquet is not complete on the satellite platform. I however harrased my installer so much on saturday night cos I wanted to watch the Euro qualifiers.

The truth be said, I think they are just plain unprepared for the demand they are experiencing now and that might make them lose the momentum to really become a viable competitor to DSTV.

As ayusman said, maybe their services should be free for now, they also need to communicate well with their customers and not just pretend as if there are no problems.

@medube
pretty obvious to me you are kind of techy like myself, I am working towards updating my Decoder firmware too (don't mind voiding the warranty) but since I'm a bit far from Lagos I'm having some difficulty getting cables and all that stuff. I've downloaded the firmware file but I'd like to confirm what cable types you used to connect to your PC.

I'm considering using a straight serial cable with a null-modem converter to connect to my serial port. Pls get back to me if this is similar to what you used or perhaps you got a crossed serial cable. Also, what software exactly did you use to do the firmware update?

Funny thing is, I use a Strong 4652 while yours seems to be a 4653, so HiTV has not really stabilized on a single platform or even a customized system like DSTV does this might explain why customers seem not to be experiencing a consistent experience.

I agree with Ilugunboy that people should exercise caution dealing with them cos it is obvious they need to have the following issues sorted out.

1. They seem not to have enough content available for subscribers though they are presently showing some promise
2. Their satellite platform is a work in progress as it does not have all their available channels
3. They need to get their customer service sorted out

Despite all these, I'm still enjoyin it though and willing to go through these teething period with them but I definitely do not expect everyone to have the same view.

@ayusman and medube

The only thing I can say is 'sorry', you do have every reason to be angry (I'm saying this because I'm sure I am one of those ayusman is referring to as promoters of HiTV).

Another thing I would add is that this kinds of problems is not only a Nigerian phenomenon, all early adopters of new services and technology go through this teething periods. My concern is two fold:

1. Is HiTV learning from this experiences?
2. Are there any plans to compensate these early adopters for the inconveniences they are experiencing?

I really hope the answers to my concerns are yes in both instances.

Back to the issue at hand, I am a subscriber on the satellite platform and yes I had the same problems you guys have mentioned on saturday (I couldn't watch on friday cos there was a blackout in my area) but it has stopped since sunday morning.

I think the problem arose due to the transition from a 'preview\testing' period to a full operational period due to some dates I saw in the Conditional Access Settings on my decoder ( there was a preview period running from August 19th to September 6th which was the day these problems started cropping up.)

This is not meant to be an excuse for HiTV but I will still appeal for them to be given some time to perfect things (The old adage that Rome was not built in a day might be some sort of consolation at least, it is for me.)

@segundash,

ilugunboy has said it all, it depends on your location though there are locations where both could be used such as ilugunboy who is within the coverage area of their main or repeater stations, their satellite platform footprint is a spot beam focused on Nigeria so can be used anywhere in Nigeria.
The advantage of the Hypercable platform is the fact that it is not affected by the weather so you have a guaranteed quality of service as opposed to satellite which can be affected by rain (my present experience with HITV since last week however somehow disproves this as I had good service even though it was raining seems they boosted their signals on the satellite platform somewhat though I had also gone ahead to get a larger dish).
The advantage of Satellite is the fact that you can use it anywhere in Nigeria so even if you are within range of a repeater station today, you may move to somewhere not within the station range someday where you might just find the satellite platform indispensable whereas your hypercable platform would have become a very heavy paperweight.

I would recommend the satellite platform over the hypercable for mobility reasons.

@ray4life

Very important point you've brought up and I'm sure somehow this will get to the management of HiTV and they will take action on it (in their own best interests).

Let us however encourage this guys instead of condemning them (we can still do that without the constant reminder that nothing works in Nigeria) These guys are really trying.

The Satellite platform has been pretty stable for about a week now, no more nightly signal disappearance (their signal strength is even better than DSTV's signal in my location at present) and even I was pleasantly surprised that during the torrential downpours during the Osun Osogbo festival, my TV pictures never broke up like used to happen with DSTV.

Lest I forget, I actually dropped a message about the signal problems I was experiencing on the platform via the feedback form on their website about two days before the improvement in signal strength but I'm not kidding myself I had anything to do with the improvement, it is safer to assume it had always been part of their plan all along.

There are still only 11 channels on the satellite platform which I hope will be increased soon as it does get pretty boring during the week and makes me look so much forward to the weekend when all that soccer is on display (I almost forgot to take my bath last weekend, was glued to the matches through out)

I look forward to them getting dedicated movie and series channels soon.

guysmat:
Go and try Free to Air (FTA). Hundreds of channels, free of charge

Nothing prevents you from enjoying the best of both worlds anyway, besides not everybody has the time to go satellite hunting with lyngsat and other satellite sites they just wanna watch the Premiership or even in some instances only want to see Wenger's face while others are only interested in Britneys underwear or her lack of one and HiTV presently offers a viable alternative towards achieving that in Nigeria without you needing to be a satellite buff.

@niyi09

I however do not know the cause of the fading signal but my guess is that it is deliberate and not due to environmental factors. As I said on another page, they definitely still have a lot to sort with their services, it is still a WIP.

@niyi09
I stay in Osogbo (Alekuwodo area).

Yes, the signals break up on their satellite platform when it is raining this is actually due to the satellite technology being used (Ku Band) but this seems to be worse with HiTV because the signals break up at night even with no sign of rain. This however does not happen with their hypercable platform.

They are now available nationwide on their satellite platform (I am presently on their satellite platform in Osun State) but their services are still experiencing some hiccups and definitely far from being stable. They however try to ensure coverage of the Premiership matches, I have however had problems watching the La Liga due to the fact that the matches are usually shown at night when HiTV signals seem to somehow vanish in my location (I am however not sure if such happens in other places though a friend says the same thing happens at his location in Lagos)

Update:

E! and Sky News are now available on the Satellite platform, if you don't have it yet just rescan your decoder.
The nightly attenuation blues have however refused to bow out.

blackchief:
here we go again,Hi TV, FSTV, mytv, eurostat etc. in as much as competition is good and needed for the development of every nation, i don't believe in replacing one problem with another.

why can't BON (brocasting organisation of Nigeria ) find a away of buying the EPL (CATEGORE A) and having the same given to the other as against every one for it self. presently if you look at our sky line you see different dish make and size. when new technology is introduced, in the third world as against bring relive it bring poverty.

recently the gsm technology was introduce in Nigeria and due to lack of agreed interconnection rate we see Nigerians moving with 3-4 hand set as against addressing the problem of interconnection. what will happen if in three years time hitv fail to win the right to EPL would all of use move back to DSTV and if we do what happen to the set of dish of hitv set.

the journey we don't need
DSTV +FSTV+DSTV+HITV+MYTV = EPL (SOLUTION WE DON'T NEED)
the journey we need
DSTV/FSTV/HITV/MYTV=EPL (SOLUTION WE NEED)

The Scenario you paint cannot happen, I would suggest you learn a bit more about satellite technology and intellectual property rights.

In case you don't know, MyTV and HiTV use the same set of equipment (KU band satellite dish and Strong Satellite receivers) the only difference is that HiTV is aligned to a different satellite (Eutelsat W4 same as DSTV with the same polarization) from MyTV (IS 7/10) and uses a different smart card (which is analogous to a SIM card in your GSM). In short, if HiTV goes bust today (God forbid), all I would need to do to watch MyTV is to realign my dish, buy MyTV smart card, and pay 2500 bucks.

The funny thing is there are some models of the Strong decoder that can be adapted to accept Irdeto cards (which is the encryption system used by DSTV) but I'm sure DSTV will come up with something to frustrate that since their systems are not open. I scanned my Satellity yesterday and did get the feeds to DSTV content but couldn't access it due to the security protection via Irdeto (both MyTV and HiTV use Conax encryption which is an open standard).

HiTV however should do something about their Satellite signals which attenuate below acceptable levels at night and with any flimsy cloud cover, we know they are just starting and all the blah, blah, blah but we don't all have the same level of patience and shouldn't need to, We are paying for good Service and should be getting it.