TelkomOne: SABC and Telkom enter streaming agreement

Telkom and the SABC have entered into an agreement that will see the national broadcaster’s content available on the new TelkomOne streaming service.

This follows recent news about the SABC attempting to diversify its revenue stream with changes to TV licences and licensing fees.

At a media briefing for the service’s launch, the SABC announced that its content would be made available on the Telkom One streaming service.

In exchange, Telkom will pay the broadcaster a licensing fee for the content, as well as a portion of the advertising income from the platform.

Sipho Maseko, Telkom’s Group CEO, said that the platform makes digital content streaming and video-on-demand services available to all South Africans–without needing to subscribe to a service.

“TelkomONE will make it possible for subscribers to pause, go back into the programme guide (time-shift) and instantly watch a scheduled TV show they may have missed. Telkom is making digital TV functionality available to all,” Maseko says.

What is TelkomOne?

TelkomOne is a newly launched video streaming and video-on-demand service for South Africa.

It includes both free and subscription plans. The free plan is funded through advertising.

Telkom positions the service as opening up the industry — both in terms of giving viewers access to local content, as well as giving a platform to local content creators.

You don’t have to be a Telkom customer to sign up for the service. But you will need to sign up for a TelkomOne account on the service’s website.

Launching on 9 November, the service is available via mobile apps, internet browsers on PC, and Android TV.

The service includes both video-on-demand content and Internet TV. Internet TV lets you watch live TV channels through the service.

This includes news channels, such as Africa News and France 24.

You can also access radio channels using the service. Music streaming is also available.

Streaming SABC content on TelkomOne

SABC content will be available on TelkomOne both in terms of video-on-demand content and TV channel streaming.

Users can watch various SABC channels live, but also use the catch-up portal to watch recordings on shows.

The SABC channels included on the streaming platform include SABC 1, 2, Sport, and Education. All 19 SABC radio stations are also on the platform.

“The TelkomOne partnership is part of the SABC’s overall strategy of becoming a competitive multichannel and multiplatform public content provider,” Madoda Mxakwe, SABC Group CEO, said.

The partnership with TelkomOne will not cancel plans for the SABC’s own OTT streaming service. The broadcaster says that this separate service is still on track to launch.

How much does TelkomOne cost?

If you want to sign up for the paid (AMP) TelkomOne plan, plans run from R7 per day to R49 per month.

Subscription plans include daily, weekly, and monthly bundles. Subscription plans also include streaming data bundles.

To find out more about the new streaming service, you can visit the TelkomOne website.

Read more: TV licences to watch Netflix? What to know about the SABC proposal

Feature image: Telkom