‘Vodacom On Demand’ video service to debut in 2017

Vodacom has had an interesting Monday. After the company announced relatively unchanged half-year earnings, it also unveiled something a bit novel.

The company today revealed plans for its video-on-demand platform, Vodacom On Demand. The company will partner with DStv parent company Multichoice and Naspers’ streaming darling ShowMax to bring mobile streaming to its customers.

According to TechCentral, the company’s move is a bid to inject some life into its fibre and mobile traffic offerings. While Vodacom does have limited fibre systems in the country’s major metros, the entire network was declared 4G ready back in September 2014.

This move also comes after a less than impressive earnings announcement from the company.

“The overall strong operational performance for the six months was negatively impacted by a one-off adjustment in taxation for Tanzania as well as the impact from weaker local market foreign currency,” the company explains.

Vodacom On Demand is Vodacom’s forthcoming video-on-demand service

Its international subscribers also tumbled by 11%, thanks in part to Tanzania’s recent illegal mobile cull.

But Vodacom On Demand seems to be a developing light for the company.

It seems that Vodacom On Demand will adopt a similar model to ShowMax Kenya’s mobile-first streaming philosophy, focusing on smartphone and tablet streaming rather than televisions or desktops. Interestingly, this could also perhaps be an alternative to DStv’s Drifta — a mobile decoder that allowed people to watch DStv channels on their mobile devices.

But this is all speculation at present. For now, details of the service remain scant, but hopefully more information will be available prior to the service’s debut.

It’s expected to go live in the first half of 2017.