Tech: Africa’s pay-tv battle heat-up as DSTV adopts free internet-based subscription model

Africa’s leading pay-tv provider, Multichoice has partnered with Telkom to offer a combined entertainment and Internet service to subscribers at an affordable cost.

This service is currently only available in Kenya, and there is hope it would be extended to other African countries.

Internet-based pricing model was first introduced by a Nigerian pay-tv provider, TSTV, which was launched on October 1, 2017. The high level of acceptance of the model by Nigerians shows it is good business strategy to capture more customers.

Thus, posing a threat to DSTV and other products of Multichoice in Nigeria. This is because Nigeria is the largest market of DSTV and GOTV in Africa.

In the special promotion dubbed ‘DSTV Na Net‘, customers purchasing a full DSTV HD decoder will get a free Mifi-router preloaded with 30GB Data from Telkom.

Speaking on the development, the Managing Director of Multichoice Kenya, Mr Eric Odipo stated that the offer is to meet the changing need of the people and improve customer experience.

“We listen to our customers to understand their changing needs and what matters most to them. We strive to improve our customers’ experience in different ways whenever and wherever they engage with us,” says Mr Odipo.

“We understand that Internet has become a basic necessity for doing business and interacting with other people socially. That is why this partnership with Telkom is an important step towards improving our customer experience.”

Multichoice is currently facing intense competition from other pay-tv service providers in the region. Within the last two months, two pay-tv service providers, TSTV and Kwese TV, were launched in two major markets of the company, Kenya and Nigeria.

Also, it is hoped that this offer would help address the shift in customers’ preference for these new pay-TVs. Moreover, it shows the battle for the pocket of African pay-tv customers has begun. The competition is expected to become more intense within next few months, especially as the Russia 2018 World Cup approaches.

Source:

pulse.ng – Nigeria’s entertainment & lifestyle platform online

Link: http://www.pulse.ng/bi/tech/tech-africas-pay-tv-battle-heat-up-as-dstv-adopts-free-internet-based-subscription-model-id7494760.html