MultiChoice and Vodacom will offer a streaming mobile TV service as of next month, but with limitations on consumption and quality, the service has prompted industry observers to call the package “less than stellar”.
The DStv Mobile service, to be officially unveiled at the beginning of August, will provide subscribers with 11 channels for R59 a month or R19 a week.
“The cellphone is fast becoming a central platform for media consumption,” says the GM of DStv Mobile SA, Mark Rayner. “The partnership allows us to offer our compelling TV content to a wide audience, via a simple product, at an affordable price.”
While viewers will be able to stream programmes over 3G without incurring data costs, the service has a “fair usage policy” that applies a cap to the amount of viewing allowed per week or per month, depending on the subscription. Weekly subscribers are limited to 45 minutes a week, while monthly subscribers are allowed 180 minutes a month.
The cost for the subscriber, therefore, works out to the equivalent of R19 for one half of a soccer game, once a week, or R60 for two movies once a month.
MultiChoice refused to give further detail or explain why the service is capped, saying it will provide further information after the official unveiling.
Independent analyst Richard Hurst believes MultiChoice is trying to position itself in the market ahead of competition, even if the current form of its mobile TV offering leaves much to be desired.
The service was originally intended to be launched across DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) - a system that uses point-to-multipoint transmission and is not subject to the same limitations on bandwidth and quality as 3G.
Due to being a broadcast medium, DVB-H requires a licence from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), which MultiChoice was refused earlier this year.
Teaming up with Vodacom has given MultiChoice the ability to offer the product on 3G. However, according to WWW Strategy analyst Steven Ambrose, the poled nature of 3G means that even when people can connect, the reception will be choppy.
“It is not the ideal technology for streaming,” he says.
He also questions who would make use of the offering. According to Ambrose, the R59 charged for a monthly subscription is about 70% of the average revenue of the average Vodacom subscriber (ARPU). This means it's about three quarters the amount that most Vodacom users are already paying. Taking that into account, it seems the service is aimed at the higher end of the market. However, such a facility will most likely be used by people on the move, and there is not a large commuter base at that end of the market.
“It could possibly be a gimmick for high-end users,” theorises Hurst, “but the key is it's a start.”
Once spectrum becomes available, he says, competitors may enter the market and the prices could come down. In the meantime, SA has mobile TV - for what it's worth, he adds.
Ambrose notes that mobile television has not really taken off anywhere. Users are far more likely to get video-on-demand from more traditional Web services like YouTube, than to subscribe to a streaming service.
“The service itself is less than stellar. Forty-five minutes is not compelling. It will appeal to early adopters, but I doubt it will go mainstream,” he concludes.
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