A lawyer and policy analyst, Desmond Israel, has criticised Communications Minister Sam George’s handling of its engagement with pay-TV operator DStv, arguing that what has been announced cannot be described as a price reduction.
Speaking with Kwasi Afriyie on Metro TV’s Business Edge on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, Desmond Israel said Sam George had initially promised to push for lower tariffs, but the outcome has instead been presented as a “value upgrade” for subscribers.
“The minister set out with a specific agenda… he told us specifically that he was going to get price reduction,” he said.
“What he brought us now is a total deviation. The regulatory effect for price reduction is not the same as value upgrade.”
He explained that while value additions may offer subscribers more content at the same cost, they do not ease affordability in the way a genuine reduction in tariffs would.
“When you do price reduction, the savings are direct on the household, regardless of what they watch. But now we are adopting and skewing to the service provider’s position,” he argued.
According to him, the new arrangement benefits higher-tier subscribers more than those on lower packages.
“In absolute terms, it is those on the higher that are even benefiting. Because the price differentiation is the same, it carries forward,” he said.
Desmond Israel also raised concerns about the temporary nature of the new offer, warning that it amounted to a promotional campaign rather than a structural reform of tariffs.
“The first question anybody on the negotiation table will ask is, what happens to subscribers after three months? If the value reverts, then the initial policy risk of price reduction still exists. For me, it’s an entire promotional window. It’s not a structural tariff reform,” he noted.
He was blunt in his assessment, calling the outcome “a pathetic propositioning” and saying the regulator had lost leverage in negotiations with DStv.
“The regulator really comes to the table with nothing. Because how does the regulator, for instance, check that these value additions are actually being gained and benefited by the subscribers?” he asked.
The policy analyst maintained that a better approach would have been a transparent tariff formula to help consumers understand how prices are set and whether reductions were possible.
“If they had approached this stakeholder meeting from a transparent tariff formula approach, we would be having a much better conversation now,” he said.
The discussion comes after the Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovation Minister Samuel Nartey George announced on Monday, September 29, 2025, that subscribers would enjoy enhanced packages without paying extra fees, a move officials described as a win for consumers.
But for critics like Desmond Israel, the measure falls short of the original promise.
“There is no clear tariff correction, as we speak. No clear tariff correction,” he said.
