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Joshua Fagbemi
Guest
Subscribers of prepaid satellite cable service, GoTV have expressed their frustrations following the outage of multiple channels on Tuesday. This disruption, experienced mostly by football-loving subscribers, has led to a compensation demand from MultiChoice, GoTV’s parent company.
Several channels reportedly disappeared during the Uefa Champions League matches on Tuesday night, causing football fans great disappointment. According to a report, football channels such as SS BLITZ Africa, SS Football Africa, SS La Liga Africa, SS Select 1, SS Select 2, and ESPN went off during the popular UEFA competition.
Other channels that went off air include M-Net Movies 4, ROK, Africa Magic Epic, TNT Africa, Al Jazeera, CNN International, Arise News, TVC News Nigeria, and Channels Television.
A report on Monday by Developing Telecoms, an online platform operated by a UK-based company, revealed that the Intelsat 33e, a geostationary high-throughput satellite serving Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and parts of the Asia-Pacific, encountered a power failure on Saturday.
Intelsat said in a statement that the satellite “experienced an anomaly on October 19” that resulted in loss of power and cutting of service to all customers. MultiChoice is believed to be among the affected customers.
A space capture of Intelsat 33e’s
The satellite company added that while it was working with the satellite’s manufacturer, Boeing Space Systems, to address the problem, “we believe it is unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable.”
Intelsat 33e’s payload included C-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band transponders. The C-band spot beams covered Europe, Central Africa, the Middle East, Central South Asia, eastern China, part of Southeast Asia, and Australia. A wide C-band beam covered sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ku-band spot beams covered most of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The Ka-band transponder had a single beam covering those regions.
Intelsat said it is in contact with all affected customers as well as third-party providers to mitigate service interruptions while it looks for backup connectivity options within its satellite fleet.
GOTV in an X post on Tuesday acknowledged the disruption and apologized to customers for all inconvenience caused.
“Dear Valued Customers, we acknowledge the disruption of signal affecting our GoTv channels, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and are actively working to restore services as quickly as possible,” a part of the press release reads.
On Wednesday, the company’s spokesperson, Caroline Oghuma stated that MultiChoice is working to restore services for all its customers. “We are experiencing a temporary disruption in our services due to a technical issue with one of our satellite providers, Intelsat.”
Following the post made by GoTv on Tuesday, subscribers of the prepaid satellite cable service have expressed their various displeasures. Many expressed that GoTv’s response to the satellite disruption came in late, further fuelling several disappointments and frustrations.
A user, The Posibilitarian! (@BrighterDail) wrote on X:
“Guys, I just subscribed and I noticed no signal strength, will I just waste money like that, money I would have used to buy bread for days. GOTV is a mess, an alternative is what we need oooo”
Another user, Edwin Ehis lluobe (@edwinehiz) wrote:
“3days of being short out of viewing any of your channels, while my subscription is running without me watching. The only way to appease us is to extend of our subscription days when you finally restore. My daughter cry daily of not able watch her favourite cartoon channel.”
A football viewing centre
Another user, Stone (@Stone1504151) wrote:
“Yesterday Madrid vs Dortmund. Today Barca vs Bayern. No one I fit watch. Full package subscription just dey waste.”
Also, OKWUTE @OkwuteG2d wrote on X:
“For the past three days my GoTV isn't working. You have to review your policies, the monthly subscription is just for your selfish interest. Lost viewing days should be added upfront otherwise I'm coming to you head office here in Abuja with my decoder for physical interaction.”
And, another user called otokhagua Isaac (@izikrev)had this to say:
“It took you guys 4 days to acknowledge your services have been down...a customer-oriented company would also make plans to compensate its customers.”
Also Read: Multichoice Nigeria says DStv, GOtv bouquet prices remain unchanged
The post Customers express frustration as channels disappear on Multichoice’s GoTv first appeared on Technext.
Several channels reportedly disappeared during the Uefa Champions League matches on Tuesday night, causing football fans great disappointment. According to a report, football channels such as SS BLITZ Africa, SS Football Africa, SS La Liga Africa, SS Select 1, SS Select 2, and ESPN went off during the popular UEFA competition.
Other channels that went off air include M-Net Movies 4, ROK, Africa Magic Epic, TNT Africa, Al Jazeera, CNN International, Arise News, TVC News Nigeria, and Channels Television.
GoTv Satellite Disruption: The Backstory
A report on Monday by Developing Telecoms, an online platform operated by a UK-based company, revealed that the Intelsat 33e, a geostationary high-throughput satellite serving Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and parts of the Asia-Pacific, encountered a power failure on Saturday.
Intelsat said in a statement that the satellite “experienced an anomaly on October 19” that resulted in loss of power and cutting of service to all customers. MultiChoice is believed to be among the affected customers.
A space capture of Intelsat 33e’s
The satellite company added that while it was working with the satellite’s manufacturer, Boeing Space Systems, to address the problem, “we believe it is unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable.”
Intelsat 33e’s payload included C-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band transponders. The C-band spot beams covered Europe, Central Africa, the Middle East, Central South Asia, eastern China, part of Southeast Asia, and Australia. A wide C-band beam covered sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ku-band spot beams covered most of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The Ka-band transponder had a single beam covering those regions.
Intelsat said it is in contact with all affected customers as well as third-party providers to mitigate service interruptions while it looks for backup connectivity options within its satellite fleet.
GoTV’s Response
GOTV in an X post on Tuesday acknowledged the disruption and apologized to customers for all inconvenience caused.
“Dear Valued Customers, we acknowledge the disruption of signal affecting our GoTv channels, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and are actively working to restore services as quickly as possible,” a part of the press release reads.
On Wednesday, the company’s spokesperson, Caroline Oghuma stated that MultiChoice is working to restore services for all its customers. “We are experiencing a temporary disruption in our services due to a technical issue with one of our satellite providers, Intelsat.”
Subscribers react online
Following the post made by GoTv on Tuesday, subscribers of the prepaid satellite cable service have expressed their various displeasures. Many expressed that GoTv’s response to the satellite disruption came in late, further fuelling several disappointments and frustrations.
A user, The Posibilitarian! (@BrighterDail) wrote on X:
“Guys, I just subscribed and I noticed no signal strength, will I just waste money like that, money I would have used to buy bread for days. GOTV is a mess, an alternative is what we need oooo”
Another user, Edwin Ehis lluobe (@edwinehiz) wrote:
“3days of being short out of viewing any of your channels, while my subscription is running without me watching. The only way to appease us is to extend of our subscription days when you finally restore. My daughter cry daily of not able watch her favourite cartoon channel.”
A football viewing centre
Another user, Stone (@Stone1504151) wrote:
“Yesterday Madrid vs Dortmund. Today Barca vs Bayern. No one I fit watch. Full package subscription just dey waste.”
Also, OKWUTE @OkwuteG2d wrote on X:
“For the past three days my GoTV isn't working. You have to review your policies, the monthly subscription is just for your selfish interest. Lost viewing days should be added upfront otherwise I'm coming to you head office here in Abuja with my decoder for physical interaction.”
And, another user called otokhagua Isaac (@izikrev)had this to say:
“It took you guys 4 days to acknowledge your services have been down...a customer-oriented company would also make plans to compensate its customers.”
Also Read: Multichoice Nigeria says DStv, GOtv bouquet prices remain unchanged
The post Customers express frustration as channels disappear on Multichoice’s GoTv first appeared on Technext.