Story = ThL Mobile has released the Mi-TV, an analogue TV phone that can receive and record broadcasts from etv and the SABC and is capable of holding two SIM cards.
“Global mobile TV adoption is being led by consumers in developing markets with mobile TV typically offered as a free feature in low-cost and mid-tier handsets,” says ThL Mobile.
The mobile nature of SA's community and the fact that subscription is free may aid in the popularity of these phones, adds the company.
Director of ThL Mobile, Corne Uys, says: “The infrastructure is already in place, there are no new standards that need to be enacted and the service is free to consumers.”
He adds that consumers simply have to get a standard TV licence, unless they already have one for their household.
On the question of upcoming digital migration, Uys says: “It will still be a few years before analogue is obsolete in SA”.
Nonetheless, to accommodate the digital migration process, ThL Mobile will market a digital video broadcast handset (DVB-H) from next year. One of its DVB models will also allow consumers to watch DSTV.
“This will be launched once the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has sorted the relevant licensing issues with the networks and DSTV,” says Uys.
MultiChoice and MNet are also conducting DVB-H trials under a test licence from ICASA, says DSTV Mobile.
Uys explains that there are three advantages to having a dual-SIM card mode. “A local user can have two SIM cards active simultaneously, either one for business and one for personal, or two SIM cards from different networks taking advantage of tariff differences.
“A visitor to SA can have their SIM card and a local SIM card, and the same goes for South Africans visiting abroad,” he adds.
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