When it doesn’t work the first time, you try again. Nearly a decade after FrontRow, its South Africa-focused streaming platform, shut down in 2017, MTN is making another play for video entertainment. This time, it wants to go pan-African.Â
Not long ago, MTN was simply a telecoms operator. Then it expanded into mobile money and fintech, data centres, and fibre infrastructure. Now it has added streaming to the list. At this rate, MTN is collecting industries like infinity stones.Â
On Monday, MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network operator, announced the launch of MTN One TV, a new video-streaming platform that will offer a mix of local content, live channels, international programming, and market-specific entertainment options across its 17 African markets.Â
How it will work: Depending on the country, users may be able to watch content for free, pay per view, subscribe, or access ad-supported content. Payments can also be made through airtime, mobile money, and other local payment methods. The company also plans to build the platform through content partnerships and local market collaborations, although it has not yet disclosed the studios, broadcasters, or major content providers that will populate the service.
MTN got the timing: The launch comes at an interesting moment for African streaming. In April, MultiChoice shut down Showmax, its streaming arm, and began offering former subscribers discounted access to DStv Stream packages in markets like Kenya. MTN has also just entered a space already occupied by Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and other local platforms. What’s interesting is that MTN is not the first telecom company to launch a streaming platform. In February, Ethio Telecom, the state-owned telecoms provider in Ethiopia, launched teleStream, its own fibre streaming platform.Â
But MTN enters the market serving over 300 million subscribers. If One TV succeeds, MTN gets another way to keep customers in its ecosystem of connectivity, payments, infrastructure, and now entertainment.