FG Grants Newly Launched Pay TV Platform, TSTV Tax Holiday

Olawale Ajimotokan
The federal government has conceded a three-year tax relief to the new PayTV platform, TSTV.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the tax holiday on Sunday night at the launch of the platform in Abuja.

He said the unveiling of TSTV would totally redefine the pay per view platform and, by extension, the television industry, by making it possible for people in all segments of society to enjoy high quality entertainment.

He applauded TSTV Managing Director,  Dr Bright Echefu, for rolling out about the time when government granted a pioneer status to the creative industry.
He said all investors in the creative industry are entitled to a three-year tax relief while the investors in the sector would be exempted from paying tax dividends.

“What Echefu has done is to democratise the media and entertainment industry and make it possible for all to have access to the best entertainment in the world. Just like a Nigerian also made history by crashing the cost of telephony in Nigeria, I am glad that another Nigerian is now coming forward also to crash the price of payTV,” Mohammed said.

The minister added that the advent of Digital Switch Over in broadcasting in Nigeria has created a paradigm shift in the television industry, where compelling contents would now attract viewership.
He identified lack of objective audience measurement mechanism as a key factor against investment in content production, but disclosed that his ministry is planning a workshop to address the challenge.

The minister said the creative industry played a critical role, along with other non-oil sector players, in pulling Nigeria’s economy out of recession, and that the government plans to develop the industry to contribute five per cent to the GDP, as against its current contribution of 1.36 per cent by 2020.
He commended Echefu for his courage of conviction and belief in Nigeria and pledged the readiness of the federal government to continue to create the conducive environment for privates sector investments to thrive.

The initial subscription cost, including a decoder, a dish and a remote control, is N5,000.
It also affords the Pay As You Go subscribers the option to pause their subscription when not in use for not more than seven days, thus extending at most, 37 days monthly subscription.
After buying the decoder, subscribers will get up to 20GB of data as bonus, while subsequent full monthly subscription through e-payment platform will come with 10GB of data.
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