NTV, KTN, Citizen TV and QTV have been running ads asking Kenyans to boycott GOtv’s and await their ‘official’ set top boxes causing confusion among a cross-section of Kenyans already using the GOtv set top boxes.
Today, the Nairobi High Court Nairobi announced the move by the firms as illegal and issued them with a 14 day court injuction restraining them from airing or publishing misleading information to the public.
Royal Media Services Limited, Nation Media Group and Standard Group Limited aimed at confusing the public to stop buying GOtv decorders by saying the Gotv and StarTimes were airing channels which they did not produce or pay for. The adverts were also aimed at potraying GOtv Kenya as a company operating out of the confines of the laws of Kenya.
However, under regulation 14 (2) (b) of the Kenya Information and Communications (Broadcasting) Regulations 2009, whose objective is to ensure that the public has access to information, GOtv has been and continues to air the content from NTV, Citizen TV, QTV andKTN, amongst others, pursuant to a ‘must carry’ obligation imposed by
GOtv offers local and international TV channels including pay TV and Free to Air Channels on Digital Video Broadcasting- Second Generation Terrestrial (DVB-T2) technology. The company is authorized by the communications Authority of Kenya, and was the first provider in Kenya to launch DVB-T2 technology over three years ago.
GOtv Kenya Limited, General Manager, Felix Kyengo, has welcomed the move by the High Court and reiterated that the company’s interest is to safeguard the rights of its customers and seek for justice.
“We thank all our valued subscribers for their continued support and reassure them that the content aired on the GOtv platform is legal and legitimate,” said Kyengo.