South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is collaborating with Telkom SA to launch an online streaming service. The five-year deal has been names TelkomONE. It will air South Africa’s public broadcaster’s free to air radio and TV channels and offer SABC rich archive and local content.
The deal is hinged in a high demand from consumers asking for more local African contents. For R45 monthly, consumers will get access to 20 SABC radio stations and access to TV stations SABC 1 and 2. SABC for shows, movies and music. And possibly boost SABC’s revenue shortfalls since the government stopped outright bailouts.
SABC had last month lamented of loss in revenues because of still competition from international streaming services that have gained popularity in South Africa. The broadcaster proposed changes in regulation to expand the definition of a TV license to net video-on-demand providers.
The entry of SABC into the streaming service is likely to put pressure on competitors Showmax, Amazon Prime, and Netflix. In this case, the SABC R49 monthly package is in line with the cheapest Showmax option and half the price of Netflix’s cheapest package in South Africa. The premium access offers consumers an extended list of channels, catch-up functionality, video on demand function, and record function for their favorite shows.
Telkom brings onboard 3G, 4G, and fiber optics internet connection thus helping the consumers access content across multiple devices; smartphones, smart televisions, tablets, and on the web.