Flat-rated data packages for streaming music

Streaming music system Simfy doesn’t run over BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), but Simfy Africa CEO Davin Mole said that they are working on the issue.

In South Africa, BIS is a flat-rated data plan available exclusively to BlackBerry users at around R60 per month.

BIS generally doesn’t include streaming media such as YouTube, and Simfy is no exception to this rule.

Simfy estimates that it requires around 85MB per hour to stream music, which at the going rate for mobile data in South Africa could end up costing users a lot of money.

Asked whether it would be possible for Simfy to run over BIS in future, Mole said that they would obviously like to run over BIS, but explained that the decision is out of their hands.

“We are proactively working with both the network operators and with Blackberry themselves to see if this can be changed,” Mole said.

If it can’t be changed, Mole said that they hope to offer a “Simfy package” in collaboration with the networks that would work in a similar way to BIS.

“We are very aware of the high cost of mobile data for many users and therefore making it affordable for all is one of our key objectives,” Mole said.

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