MultiChoice has quietly launched its own uncapped fibre products, combining DStv bouquets and unlimited fibre Internet in South Africa at deeply discounted prices.
MultiChoice Group is getting serious about streaming. The pay-television group has quietly launched its own uncapped fibre products, combining DStv bouquets and unlimited fibre Internet in South Africa at deeply discounted prices.
The DStv website currently advertises two products, one that bundles the DStv Compact bouquet and another that offers the top-end Premium bouquet:
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The first fibre bundle offers 25Mbit/s uncapped fibre (10Mbit/s on the uplink) with a DStv Streama set-top box and a DStv Compact subscription for R699/month. Consumers who supply their own decoder get satellite TV included at the same price.
The second fibre bundle also offers 25Mbit/s uncapped fibre (again, 10Mbit/s on the uplink), including a DStv Streama box and DStv Premium for R999/month on a 24-month contract. Once again, consumers who provide their own decoder can also get DStv via satellite at the same price.
Based on above bundle deals and given that DStv Compact streaming normally costs R369/month, subscribers to the streaming Compact bundle are paying an effective R330/month for 25Mbit/s uncapped fibre Internet.
With the satellite option included (the normal price for DStv Compact via satellite is R429/month), the effective price for the uncapped Internet drops to R270/month.
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Running the same calculation for the fibre/DStv Premium streaming bundle shows the effective price of the uncapped Internet is R300/month (given that Premium streaming’s normal price is R699/month). This number drops to just R160/month when satellite is included, given that DStv Premium on satellite normally costs R839/month.
A 24-month subscription is, however, a requirement for consumers wanting to sign up to these new bundled packages.
DStv’s Streama box, which is bundled for “free” in these deals, was launched on 1 October at a recommended retail price of R1 299. The product, which was in development for two years, has built-in Wi-Fi and supports 4K HDR playback and Dolby Atmos audio.
The launch of DStv’s fibre products is the first time that MultiChoice’s DStv Internet division has offered fibre Internet – until now, it’s limited its offering to fixed-4G/LTE services. The group announced at its annual Showcase event in September that it planned to add uncapped fibre to its offerings.
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It’s not clear which fibre network operator or operators MultiChoice has partnered with – a MultiChoice spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the speeds on offer (25Mbit/s down and 10Mbit/s up) match the speeds offered by Openserve, Telkom’s wholesale division that operates one of South Africa’s largest fibre-to-the-home networks.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry