Falklands : Falkland Islanders Angry About Proposed TV Levy
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 11.04.2008 (Article Archived on 25.04.2008)

Falkland Islanders have expressed their anger about a new TV levy that would force all householders to pay a fee for BFBS Television whether or not they watched it and even if or not they have a television in their homes.

FALKLAND ISLANDERS ANGRY ABOUT PROPOSED TELEVISION LEVY

By J. Brock (FINN)

Falkland Islanders have expressed their anger about a new TV levy that would force all householders to pay a fee for BFBS Television whether or not they watched it and even if or not they have a television in their homes.  The proposed £300.00 per annum fee would be added to the same invoice Islanders receive when they pay for water and trash removal.  The service is not going to begin until September but according to phone calls coming in to FINN, the additional charge will be placed on this year’s invoice in July.

At £300.00 a year, these charges far exceed what is paid in the UK for TV licences, with a licence for Colour TV at £139.50 per annum and £47.00 for a Black and White TV.   Information from Government thus far says that for the £300.00 per annum price the recipient will receive two channels BFBS1, BFBS2 but whispers that BBC World and either BBC News 24 or SKY News would be in the package have not panned out.

For the past 15 years KTV Limited, a privately owned company, has been supplying wireless cable TV with ten channels (soon to be 14 channels) 24 hours a day for a monthly fee of between £20.00 for pensioners and £30.00 for the rest of us.  They also supply Satellite TV at a price beginning at £31.00 a month.

With Government requiring everyone to pay for BFBS TV, this will force people on the lower income scale to give up KTV in favour of the Government service because they won’t be able to afford both.

Forcing people to choose between TV services in a small community doesn’t set well with Islanders.  In November last year 1100 survey forms were sent to all households in the Falklands and only 135 were returned.  Of 135 who filled them in and sent them back – according to FIG – 98% of those forms indicated the responder watched BFBS TV.  It appears that Government are using these figures as justification to go ahead with the project, which could be announced at the budget session at the end of May. According to an article in Penguin News on 04 April 2008 the reasoning behind making everyone pay is to realise full cost recovery for the project.  But Islanders are not convinced that 135 out of 1100 is a good enough sample to get an accurate reading of what people want.

To be fair, for the past  20 years Islanders have been receiving BFBS transmissions free of charge with FIG paying an annual fee up front for the service.  BFBS is a charity that has brought quality programming to the military garrison for decades. Many Islanders are hooked on Coronation Street, Eastenders and Emerdale and willingly would pay to continue following their favourite soaps.  However, TV soaps and relentless sport isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

There is a way to collect money from people who want to watch BFBS TV that would be cost-effective and ensure that Government got money for full cost recovery.  It deals with the way businesses manage to give a good, efficient service to people and still make a profit.

What FINN proposes is:

1. That BFBS Scrambles their signal so that a decoder can unscramble it
2. The decoder is the property of FIG and will be collected when the subscriber no longer wants the service and/or leaves the Islands.  The installation fee will not be refunded.
3. Sell an installation package for everyone who wants BFBS TV consisting of:

1. A Decoder fee (£200 for the first and £50 for subsequent ones per household)
2. A time limited swipe or sim card that could be sold over the counter like electric cards and phone cards are now, using denominations of (For Example) £25.00, £50.00, £100.00, £150.00 and £300.00 depending on how many months you want to pay for.  Keep in mind that people go away and contract officers come and go.  Each decoder would need a swipe or sim card.
3. A reduction in price could be allowed for second and third decoders per household.

4. Cost recovery would be immediate with the cost of the installation alone bringing in enough money to pay for scrambling the signal and the design and purchase of the decoders.
5. As the cards are sold over the counter, FIG would not have to pay for invoicing.
6. A scrambled signal would ensure that no one without a decoder would be watching BFBS.

No one wants to pay for a service that they don’t use.  Some who called FINN said they would pay, but, “Don’t expect us to watch it!”  If BFBS TV is as popular as FIG says it is, then there should be no problem with full cost recovery using this or a similar method.  Consequences would be worse if people really didn’t want the service and were forced to pay for it.

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