..Hits bull’s eye with free upgrade of Lagos subscribers to DVB-T2
The decision of Digital TV services provider StarTimes to migrate its Lagos subscribers from the legacy Digital Video Broadcasting, DBV-T1 to DBV-T2 for free may have excited its existing and potential subscribers.
The subscribers say the service provider has taught other DSTV platforms a lesson or two on how to understand customers’ plights and work towards satisfying them based on their economic conditions.
They said while others were arbitrarily increasing prices and denying customers request for pay per view service options, StarTimes realized that the economic conditions of their Nigerian subscribers may not be the best and therefore not only make bouquet prices affordable for them but also migrates them from the legacy network equipment to more modern one at no cost.
Explaining the reason why it took the free route to get its customers onto the advanced viewing platform, General Manager StarTimes Nigeria, Mr Eric Xiao said: “We understand that many of our subscribers fall into the average income bracket, and that is why we have made this upgrade available for free. We believe that every subscriber should be able to enjoy the best digital TV experience regardless of their income”
That particular line appears to have endeared StarTimes to even prospective customers who are groaning under the weight of incessant increment from another operator.
One of the subscribers who spoke to Hi-Tech confessed that even though he could also afford whatever fee StarTimes would have placed on the migration, the fact the service provider thought of doing it for free due to economic conditions of subscribers was the best customer service gesture ever.
Mr Emmanuel Alozie who said he had exchanged his old equipments to the new DBV-T2 without hassles, said: “StarTimes should expect more subscribers. It has shown that the interest of Nigerians is priority.
From me, they will get at least 10 to 20 subscribers who were not on their platform before. I have taken it as a crusade. While others were busy increasing prices because they feel they have what others don’t have, StarTimes is feeling our pains. Even though I can pay whatever cost they would have prescribed for the upgrading, I want to repay their gesture of thinking Nigerian subscribers. I have asked my friends to dump the burden imposed by those who don’t think about us and move to StarTimes, and the crusade is yielding fruits. Man shall not live by football alone. At least that is the only thing that makes the difference” he added.
Recall that StarTimes recently shut down its legacy Digital Video broadcasting platform the DBV-T1 and asked its customers in Lagos to upgrade to DVB-T2 decoder in order to get better viewing experience.
According to Xiao, the upgrade was aimed at providing a better viewing experience to its esteemed subscribers.
He said:” T1 decoder signal was switched off on May 1st in Lagos, meaning customers still using the old StarTimes decoder stopped receiving signals.
“When StarTimes launched in 2010, the T1 decoder (the silver colour set-top box decoder) was introduced. We understand that those on it are experiencing poor signal, unclear images, and limited channel options. However, with the new T2 decoder, subscribers can say goodbye to these issues and enjoy the best of digital television” he added.
Source : Vanguard