Multichoice says it expects to lose subscribers and staff as new players are licensed in the pay-TV market.
"It's a given that we will see price wars happening and our subscribers will migrate to other players. Margins will get thinner and content rights will become more expensive," explains Multichoice SA CEO Nolo Letele.
Letele would not quantify the number of subscribers Multichoice expects to lose, or what this will translate into in terms of revenues.
To offset the impact of the incoming competition, the pay-TV company is looking to new technologies which are being tested or deployed in the broadcasting market to extend the ways in which it reaches customers.
These include mobile TV, through the DTV Select service launched on June 1, and high-definition TV services, which will be rolled out in October.
Multichoice GM of new media, Richard Fyffe, says his unit is upgrading its video-on-demand software so users can store more TV programmes. This service will be available to existing customers at no extra cost, he adds.
Linda Vermaas, CEO of DTV Mobile, says Multichoice does not expect mobile TV to replace traditional TV. "It's a matter of ensuring that users can access TV programming using a device of their choice at any given time," she says.
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