Mobile TV hits Africa

South Africa’s number one operator Vodacom has launched MobileTVPlaya, a live and on-demand multi-channel mobile TV service.

The service, enabled by UK-based ROK Entertainment Group, offers Vodacom customers a choice of 10 channels to receive via GPRS enabled handsets from a content portfolio of 22 channels at a monthly cost of SAR29.00 (£3.00).

“MobileTVPlaya is an African first,” said Romeo Kumalo, executive director, Vodacom South Africa, “and we’re confident of significant uptake amongst our customers who want access to live and on-demand information and entertainment content on their cellphones at any time, any place.”

Streamed mobile TV may still be in its infancy across Africa, but it is a relatively mature service in developed markets. However, according to a recent study carried out by Dutch telecoms analyst house Telecompaper, customer interest is still fairly low. The analyst found that only 1.4 per cent of subscribers in its home territory had ever watched mobile TV.