Test for cellular pay-TV venture
The Independent Communications Authority of SA invited bids for pay-television licences at the end of January, paving the way for competition with Naspers-owned MultiChoice. Vodacom last week received the licence to test digital video broadcasting handheld (DVB H) technology, a technical specification for taking broadcast services to handheld receivers.
A joint statement from Vodacom and MultiChoice released yesterday said the cellular operator, the only one to seek a licence to date, was not preparing to compete with the pay-television operator and would in fact be party to the MultiChoice DVB-H trial.
Last week, MultiChoice and the country’s cellphone operators — Vodacom, Cell C and MTN — announced their commitment to collaborate on DVB-H. This will see SA technologically ready well before the 2010 soccer showpiece.
Gryphon Asset Man agement portfolio manager Abri du Plessis said Vodacom’s move was a way of “positioning itself for future opportunities”.
MultiChoice said it would distribute a limited number of DVB-H- enabled Sagem handsets free to Vodacom subscribers and to subscribers to other cellphone operators.
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