BUSINESS

Multichoice wants more women trained as dish installers

More than 400 local satellite dish installers have been trained by Multichoice Africa Limited for the past four years, but the firm keen in expanding its share in the local market wants more women trained on the trade.

Speaking at the opening of the satellite dish installers’ training in Dar es Salaam recently, Multichoice Tanzania Limited sales manager Salum S. Salum said for the past four years the number of installers has been on the increase.

“In the past we had a limited number of satellite dish installers which compelled us to introduce the training programme to local technicians,” he said.

The training has enabled the number of installers to increase and improved both the level of customer service as well as transfer of the new technology.

He said since the training programme was introduced more than 400 Tanzanians have been trained countrywide on how to install satellite dishes in homes, hotels and offices.

Those trained came from Arusha, Mwanza, Mbeya, Dodoma, Kondoa, Zanzibar, Mtwara and Dar es Salaam.

Highlighting the need for Tanzanian installers to undergo training and support, Salum said the technology has been constantly changing and improving.

Explaining further, he said the training was also introduced to improve services of Multichoice company and expand the installers’ network.

Through the training, 79 Tanzanians have been officially certified to be Digital Satellite Television (DSTV) satellite installers, he added.

“As you know satellite technology is always changing, so we have to make sure that we train more people to cater for our customers,” he said.

He also encouraged women to apply for the training which is provided free of charge.

“The number of women who apply for the training is very small compared to men and we are making deliberate efforts to increase it,” he said.

For their part, the course participants thanked the company for providing them training free of charge, saying it has improved their efficiency.

“This is my first time to attend this course. I learnt a lot of things which will help me in installing satellite dishes,” one of the participants, Francis Mwakalonge said.

Citing one development, he said a newer decoder model using HD-PVR technology (High Definition Personal Video Recorder) is now also used.

Another participant, Hosea Mwainyekule, urged women to study science subjects which would enable them to become good satellite dish installers.

Citing an example, he said the number of women satellite dish installers in South Africa is bigger than that of men, hence it helps them in earning more from the trade.

Multichoice Africa which manages DSTV services has its headquarters in South Africa and has operations in 48 African countries.

Its branch in Tanzania manages subscription services for DSTV and facilitates the training of certified installers as one part of a wider programme to improve customer experience for Tanzanians.

The new installers expect to be busy in the coming months as DSTV launches new channels and customers take advantage of discounted offers.