DStv Premium for cheaper than R500 — if you buy fibre from MultiChoice

MultiChoice has launched a new bundle package that combines a DStv Premium subscription, DStv Streama digital media box, and a 25/10Mbps fibre connection for R999 per month.

The deal was made available from the start of October 2022 alongside another bundle that combines the same device and fibre package with a DStv Compact subscription at R699 per month.

The company has also added a standalone fibre package with the same speeds at R549 per month.

All these offers include a router and fibre installation. None of the current bundles offer DStv satellite broadcasting packages, and all the deals are only available on 24-month contracts.

Bundles include the new DStv Streama TV box, replacing the decoder subscribers could get with a satellite-based contract.

The Streama includes apps for DStv and Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and YouTube.

DStv Streama on display during MultiChoice’s 2022 Media Showcase

MyBroadband previously found the DStv Compact fibre deal offered a significant discount over buying the items in the bundle separately. We decided to see if the same were the case for the Premium offer.

On its website, MultiChoice said it partnered with major fibre network operators (FNOs) to offer the fibre bundles.

To buy these deals, prospective customers must live in an area covered by these operators.

Although it did not name any of these FNOs, the only large operator that currently provides the combination of a 25Mbps downlink and 10Mbps uplink is Openserve.

We found the bundled fibre service was available at a home address on DStv’s coverage map where Openserve was the sole FNO.

Interestingly, it was also available in Vumatel-only areas. It was not available where Frogfoot was the only fibre provider.

Several Internet service providers (ISPs) offer the 25/10Mbps Openserve package at monthly prices ranging from R473 to R599. Openserve provides a complete list of these providers on its website.

When subtracting those prices and the monthly cost of a DStv Streama split over 24 months from the total price of R999 per month, the effective price you pay for DStv Premium can drop well below R500.

This is much cheaper than the usual R699 per month price of a streaming-only DStv Premium subscription.

The table below shows the effective cost of DStv Premium when subtracting the cost of the Streama and comparing the deal to fibre packages from various ISPs.

Another way to illustrate the potential saving is to calculate the total discount across all items instead of just the DStv Premium package.

DStv claims a saving of R289 per month, but does not explain how it came to this number on its website.

MyBroadband found when using a reputed ISP like Afrihost, the effective discount comes to R251 when opting for MultiChoice’s bundle instead of buying each item separately.

A breakdown of how we calculated this discount is shown in the table below.

Now read: DStv working on increasing streaming limit — but you’ll need one of its devices