DStv Mobile at R36 per month
MultiChoice has been trialing its Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld (DVB-H) DStv mobile TV service since 2005, but frequency licensing and other regulatory obstacles prevented the company from launching its mobile TV offering commercially.
On 10 September this year MultiChoice announced that it has received a Mobile TV broadcast frequency license from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) after a process that lasted several years.
“Mobile TV is a long term opportunity that will require significant investment. The concept, technology and business models are still evolving globally and it will take many years to see any returns on this investment. However, it is important for the development of South Africa’s ICT engineering capability that we constantly experiment on the cutting edge of new technologies,” commented Nolo Letele, Former Chief Executive Officer, MultiChoice South Africa Group.
At the time the company said that they immediately started their preparation to commercially launch its broadcast mobile TV service, and today the company officially launched its DVB-H based DStv mobile service.
Access to the service
DStv Mobile can be accessed on a DVB-H enabled cellphone or via MultiChoice’s newly introduced mobile TV decoder, the Drifta.
The DVB-H enabled cellphones currently available in the South African market are the Nokia 5330, Nokia N96 and ZTE F900, MultiChoice said in a statement. The pay-TV operator added that it is in discussion with various cellphone manufactures and is confident that more DVB-H enabled phones will be available in the South African market soon.
The new mobile TV decoder, the Drifta, is a separate device that receives the DStv Mobile broadcast signal and relays it over Wi-Fi to a range of Wi-Fi-capable laptops, PCs, tablets and smartphones.
At launch the Drifta supports Windows and iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Blackberry OS, Symbian^3 and Android applications are in development and more devices that work with the Drifta will be enabled soon.
According to MultiChoice, network coverage is available in the major centres of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Soweto, CapeTown, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane, Mbombela, Rustenburg, Bloemfontein and Durban.
The frequency spectrum allocated to mobile broadcasting currently enables 15 channels via DVB-H technology. This spectrum was licensed to both MultiChoice (60%) and e.tv (40%) who will be offering pay and free-to-air services respectively.
The channel line-up on the DStv Mobile bouquet will initially include a selection of SuperSport channels (1, 2, 3 and Blitz), Africa Magic, Cartoon Network, Trace and a DStv Events Channel. The e.Mobile bouquet contains The eNews Channel and Channel O. MultiChoice promised that more channels on both services will be announced soon.
The DStv Mobile bouquet will cost subscribers R36 per month from 1 April 2011. The service will be free until March 2011.
The Drifta will be available for R599 from major retailers from 1 December and the service can be activated via the MultiChoice call centre or the DStv Mobile website.
DVB-H cellphones will be made available through mobile network operators, Vodacom, MTN and Cell C and the subscription is activated directly off the handset.
DStv Mobile on DVB-H << Comments and discussion
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