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BEStv spokesperson, Andrew Jones, held a meeting with potential suppliers and service providers yesterday to brief them on his company's expectations once BEStv starts running. Jones said the meeting was to update business people likely to be involved with the soon-to-be Multichoice competitor on the status and start the first of many meetings to discuss the specifics of what would be required to get the new pay television service provider going. Present at the meeting were potential decoders and satellite dish suppliers and those who will be providing IT support to BEC. After the meeting, Jones told Mmegi that his company would be operating by the end of the year, starting with about 8-10 channels and scaling rapidly, to a sampling of about 300 channels in 3 years. He explained that once BEStv starts running, it would give Multichoice, the only pay TV provider enjoying a monopoly all over Africa, a run for their money. He said Multichoice would be easy competition for his company, which plans to give customers more content at lower prices. While in town Jones held meetings with International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA), and Citizen Entrepreneural Agency (CEDA). In a past interview, Jones had expressed delight at NBB's decision to offer BEC a broadcast licence, and said his company was looking forward to operating as a licensed Pay TV service in Africa. "The days of monopoly rule are over and I take Multichoice's words at face value when they say that they welcome competition. I think we both agree that with competition comes many benefits for the market and the consumer," he said
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