Speaking in Parliament in response to some questions about the high subscription prices for the FIFA world cup this year, Senior Minister of State for Communication and Information, Lawrence Wong, said that authorities here have "no say" in the price.
He explained that because there are multiple options on how to subscribe, the average subscriber fee is actually only $88.
He reasoned that those who have already subscribed to the Barclay's Premier League package get to watch the World Cup for free so on average, the subscription for world cup 2014 is much less than the one-off fee of $112.35 charged by SingTel.
(See: SINGTEL SUBSCRIBERS WILL NEED TO PAY $112.35 TO WATCH FIFA WORLD CUP THIS YEAR)
He also insisted that it is not correct to compare the subscription prices here with other countries as there are "widely varying factors" that impact the price. He pointed out that Singapore was just a small market for FIFA and so we are just a "price taker" with little negotiation power.
Mr Wong also said that the performance of the cross-carriage scheme should not be judged by whether prices have gone down.
The minister also warned that the MDA should not give in to "populist" pressure saying that there should not be any subsidy on the costs.
He emphasized that if the public service broadcasting funds were used to subsidize the world cup, there would be less available for other programs and in the end, consumers would be worse off.
Mr Wong insisted that there is nothing the government can do and the only way for the prices to come down is for the whole FIFA rights system to be "fundamentally altered".
Related: S'POREANS OUTRAGED BY HIGH PRICE FOR FIFA WORLD CUP, SOME CALL FOR BOYCOTT