MultiChoice is wading further into the world of internet services, announcing a partnership with SA’s largest fibre-to-the-home provider, Vumatel.
On Tuesday, the DStv operator said it will offer a range of bundled and stand-alone fibre packages to customers who have Vumatel coverage in their area.
The announcement comes as Vumatel had to contend with a major outage on its fibre network on the same day.
Revisiting the ISP model
Africa’s largest pay TV company has been playing around with the idea of providing internet services to its base of customers, which now sits at more than 8-million, for a number of years. Ironically, the group sold its former internet service provider (ISP) business MWeb to Dimension Data in 2014.
Given the rise of online video streaming and content consumption, MultiChoice has had to revisit its ISP strategy and has been investing heavily in the space to retain customers. The company has three online streaming platforms and even offers stand-alone DStv packages not tied to a satellite dish or decoder.
Having launched its DStv Internet service in 2021, MultiChoice is working to offer its connectivity services to customers, who can bundle their entertainment and online access with one provider. This model has been successful in the US with providers such as Comcast.
“MultiChoice customers will have more uncapped line speeds to choose from, and can bundle digital television subscriptions (DStv) and uncapped fibre from as little as R699 per month and save,” the group said in a statement.
Fibre opportunity
When DStv Internet first launched, the offering was through fixed wireless, that is: the use of a SIM card and Wi-Fi router. This has since been expanded to include fibre, which remains the cheapest form of internet access in SA.
For Vumatel, a company under Remgro’s telecom division, such a partnership increases its odds of getting more people to connect to its extensive fibre network, covering 1.4-million homes.
Estimates show that 2.2-million homes are passed by fibre in SA, with 17-million still to cover. Homes passed is a measure used in the fibre industry to denote the number of potential customers a company has access to by virtue of their service being available in an area.
Telkom’s Openserve has the largest fibre network in SA but has lagged Vumatel on the homes front. It has been investing to close this gap, recently crossing a million homes.
Remgro’s telecom business, CIVH, recently formed a new infrastructure company as part of its R13bn deal announced last year to merge its Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) units with Vodacom’s fibre assets to create one of the largest fibre companies in SA.
Diversification
As MultiChoice looks to a future beyond the satellite dish and video entertainment business, it is targeting other segments including cybersecurity; sports betting; connectivity; on-demand medical and armed response; insurance and rewards — all linked on one platform.
“MultiChoice has been successfully evolving its offering to deliver value to its customers that is beyond video entertainment, the company is offering an integrated digital ecosystem where customers can access a suite of services that meet their unique needs,” the group said.
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