Strive Masiyiwa, the founder and Chairman of the Econet Group recently gave an update on the product development and roll-out plans of Kwesé TV. This is the pay-TV service owned by Econet Media, the entertainment subsidiary of the telecommunications group.
In a post providing some entrepreneurial insights on Kwesé TV that were shared on his Facebook page, Masiyiwa highlighted how Kwesé TV is expected to have over 60 channels most of which will be available via mobile devices.
This ties in with the information that they gathered which shows how 200 million people in Africa have access to smartphone versus the 60 million with access to a TV set. Masiyiwa indicated that his team was developing a mobile-centric strategy for Kwesé TV to accommodate this.
One interesting feature on Kwesé TV which was also shared is the flexible bouquet plan for subscribers accessing the service via a set top box (decoder) and dish. These subscribers will be able to select any of three payment packages: a 3-day subscription, a 7-day sub or the familiar 30-day monthly subscription.
It’s aimed at subscribers on a budget who might not be able to pay for a full month’s worth of TV. Considering how Kwesé TV is aimed at disrupting DStv, Africa’s most popular pay TV service, the flexi-approach could provide a new approach to subscription entertainment in all the markets where Kwesé TV is setting up.
According to Masiyiwa, Kwesé TV will be rolling out in 18 countries by June 2017. So far the Kwesé brand has established a presence in countries that include Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda. In most of these territories, it has introduced both satellite and mobile based TV extending the reach of its content to an increasingly larger part of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Some of these arrangements were based on Free to Air content partnerships like the one entered into with Zimbabwe’s own ZTV which was cancelled just weeks into its existence. It was terminated after the government highlighted its concerns about giving a competitor an advantage.
image credit – Strive Masiyiwa Facebook Page
14 comments
Now that is a what we call thinking ahead and countering the effects of OTT to generate cash in the forseable future whilst other MNOs are stuck in shares problems between gvt(zarnet) and gvt( nssa) created by visionless minister.
When people start to enjoy tv on their mobile phones, pple are going to cry monopoly of Econet, bt forgeting times like now where Econet is risking its profits by investing and challenging how people see and use their mobile phones.
Sometimes you loose ( just like that water purification econet tried) bt sometimes the opportunities are too big to ignore. The bigger the opportunity, the bigger the risk bt potential for huge rewards is great.
The only telco which can challenge econet at the moment on home ground is TelOne. They have one leg into pples homes via adsl, they need to move fast on their LTE implementation.
I like to watch live tv, movies, news, sport and series on my tv. I don’t mind for 10 mins or so on my phone. Or if it is just a clip from your tube For Kwesi TV you will need between 8-10 mbps. Or you will have constant buffering and say what a waste and turn to dstv again. Because netflix is not live tv it works with a 2mbps connection but not live tv. I have learnt.
If LTE is implemented properly, you can seemlessly switch between your tv and mobile viewing. I watch live news from my mobile on a properly configured 3G/4G network, no problem at all and my download is 62Mbps and upload 54Mbps.
Continue learning, you’re on the right track though still missing important points
You can watch live tv on 1mbs because it will be 240p. I watch live tv with adsl and thats saying a lot. There are live tv websits like euronews.com
Ngaichiuya ka ! I thought it was supposed to be launched in November 2016 in Zim.?
Kikiki. I can’t imagine myself watching soccer on mobile phone.
you can always cast to your screen using chromecast or similar technology for an extra 20 dollars for a dongle you can use for all your tvs. So you dont necessarily have to watch from the phone
Zvimwe zvinongodawo paBig screen so not pafoni.
i have a question for you guys. Do u think people at DSTV feel threatened by Kwese??? Personally i dont think so coz of that beast called SUPERSPORT..Your thoughts please…the other thing is your mother or father tech wise enough to use a phone or device??
DSTV is already in pay tv through their sister company showmaxx.The difference will be on how kwese will manage to interact with the clients,if they can better the supersport interaction they will be able to capture the market.The future belongs to the better communicators and content delivers on social medial etc,its all about engagemet thats were sports entertainment is mostly about.
DSTV is already in pay tv through their sister company showmaxx.The difference will be on how kwese will manage to interact with the clients,if they can better the supersport interaction they will be able to capture the market.The future belongs to the better communicators and content delivers on social medial etc,its all about engagemet thats were sports entertainment is mostly about
The flexible viewing options introduced by Kweśe are a killer. I have watched MTN’s VU (formerly FrontRow ). They have a weekend subscription which starts from Friday to Sunday. What’s more, their data is zero rated and it adjusts to the available bandwidth thereby making sure you have tv even on weak signals. If you can’t afford DSTV then there’s no crying for Supersport. You will acquaint yourself with Kweśe Sports and learn to understand NBA because that’s what’s available!
nice , efforts by kwese , strive good work. step up with activation process it is really hectic here in zambia. 48 hours you are not connected.