Telecommunication provider MTN South Africa launched a video-on-demand (VOD) service that will provide its customers access to movies and television shows for as little at $15 (179 Rands) per month. The data based platform named FrontRow Services will also be renting movies at 15 Rands for library titles and 27 Rands for latest movies.
Customers who have subscribed to MTN FrontRow can view content via their internet browser, or through their Android or iOS mobile devices on both prepaid and postpaid — including those on hybrid contracts.
“Customers who have subscribed to MTN FrontRow Club can view content via their Internet browser, or through their Android or iOS mobile devices,” TechCentral quoted MTN saying in a statement.
“Subscribers to this service can also download an Android app which can be used to access content. An iOS app will be launched soon.”
This will not be the first time a VOD service has been launched in South Africa, where players such as Wabona operate, but it will be the first time an African based telecom operator take on this new technological product in Africa.
According to research by Ericsson, global data use through the consumption of video is set to increase by around 55 percent per year until the end of 2019. The research also showed that video is the fastest-growing internet activity.
But despite this, the VOD market in Africa has been dominated by startups, with larger African firms playing catch-up while a launch for global giants such as Netflix on the continent is still not feasible in the near future. Rumors of a Netflix launch in Africa have gone unanswered.
The growth of video is also expected to increase more in Africa than any other region due to its unique market where most users are connecting to the internet for the first time through mobile devices rather than fixed networks, a report by broadband network solutions provider Sandvine showed.
