Vodacom’s Netflix plans
Vodafone UK announced that its Red 4G plan subscribers will soon get a free six month Netflix subscription with their service. Vodacom, which is part of the Vodafone Group, may do the same in South Africa.
Vodafone said that as of July 2014, anyone signing up or upgrading to a Vodafone Red 4G plan can opt for Netflix as their entertainment pack of choice.
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Netflix so that our Red 4G customers can enjoy their favourite TV programmes and films when out and about,” Vodafone said.
Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said that the group is in similar talks to the ones its parent company, Vodafone, is having with Netflix about streaming content.
Following the announcement of the group’s full year financial results on Monday (19 May 2014), Joosub told BusinessTech: “We are in similar talks with various parties, some through Vodafone, some directly.”
When asked for specific company names, including Netflix, Joosub said: “I don’t want to comment on any specific ones yet.”
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman would also not comment on whether Vodacom is planning to launch Netflix in South Africa.
However, with its parent Vodafone’s existing relationship with Netflix, it can be assumed that Vodacom is looking to bring the service to South Africa.
If Vodacom brings Netflix to South Africa, it may offer some zero-rated streaming data for the service – similar to its current DStv mobile product.
The Netflix subscription can also be used as a standalone service over a fixed broadband connection, which streams to your TV.
Netflix is a bandwidth hungry application, with streaming a movie or TV series consuming between 0.3GB and 7GB per hour.
It therefore makes sense to mainly do Netflix streaming over a fixed broadband (or Wi-Fi) network.
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