Tanzanians may soon receive free decoders from a Chinese pay TV network operator called StarTimes for digital television services access.
Mr. Charles Lui, StarTimes group vice president said that they had already consulted Tanzania’s ministry of information, youth, culture and sports on the project, and are waiting for a formal application from the Tanzanian government, which will be presented to the Chinese government officials for its approval and endorsement.
“We had started talks with Mr Nchimbi and now the current Minister Ms Fenella Mukangara is struggling to effect the matter the soonest possible,” Lui said.
A research analyst from Informa Telecoms and Media, Mr Danson Njue, told ITweb that Startimes’ move to offer the free decoders could be part of the company’s customer acquisition strategy.
“A price of $62 per installation may be a little bit too expensive especially for the rural folks. Offering free decoders will help in attracting new customers in a market that has long been dominated by South Africa’s MultiChoice DSTV,” Njue said.
Based in Tanzania, Startimes is a owned by Star Media Company Limited. It was established through a joint venture between StarTimes and Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC). The company operates Pay TV services by providing a variety of premium digital television programs, and a series of high quality digital TV terminal equipments.
Since launching its Tanzania services back in September 2011, new players have entered the pay TV market including Kenya’s Zuku, and they are investing heavily especially in the satellite and cable TV.
Njue said that a fresh wave of competition is expected in this sector in the near future.
