ICASA Issues Mobile TV Trial Licence

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has issued a one-year trial permit to the locally-owned Mobile TV consortium to trial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) technology for broadcast mobile TV services under the name 'TV4U'. The group hopes to get a trial service up and running for 1,000 users in a month or so, after missing out in a recent auction of Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) frequencies, which were awarded to E.tv and Multichoice.

Only e.tv Gets Mobile TV Licence as Others Fail in Bid

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has awarded domestic terrestrial TV broadcaster e.tv a licence to provide broadcast mobile TV, but disqualified all three other bidders, reports Broadband TV News.

Two bids were rejected due to mistakes in their applications: Multichoice Africa’s submission was late whilst Super5Media simply failed to bind all copies of its papers.

Meanwhile, an application from The Mobile TV Consortium was deemed ineligible as it does not currently hold a broadcast licence, a pre-requisite for a mobile TV concession. MultiChoice has been piloting a mobile TV service in collaboration with South African cellco MTN for the past few years.

Icasa Rushes Through Mobile TV Licences

South African broadcasting and telecoms regulator The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is racing against time to issue mobile TV licences in time for the Soccer World Cup tournament starting on 11 June. Robert Nkuna, an Icasa councillor, was reported as saying that two multiplexes have been set aside for mobile TV. One multiplex can carry up to twelve TV channels, depending on the technology used. No company will be allowed to occupy more than 60% of a multiplex. MultiChoice, which has been testing mobile TV technology by streaming some of its existing pay-TV content to cellphones over the past three years in cooperation with various wireless network operators, is planning to apply for a licence. Its parent company, Naspers, said last year it had set aside ZAR98 million (USD13.4 million) for mobile TV services, which it has already launched in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Namibia.

Interested parties have three weeks to submit their applications to Icasa. Nkuna said mobile TV licences would be offered on a technology-neutral basis. The second multiplex will be available after the regulator has opened the market for the second round of pay-TV licences.

In a separate announcement, Icasa has suggested an aggressive cut in mobile and fixed interconnection rates. The regulator has proposed a three-year glide-path for both mobile and fixed service licensees: mobile interconnection rates, currently set at ZAR0.89 per minute, are proposed to be reduced to ZAR0.65 from July 2010 and further reduced to ZAR0.40 from July 2012. Furthermore Icasa has proposed that fixed line interconnection rates be reduced to ZAR0.15 from July 2010 and ZAR0.10 from July 2012. Hearings related to the draft wholesale call termination regulations are set to be held at the beginning of June, and are set to be in place by the end of the month.

Multichoice Takes Over GTV Premiership Rights

Multichoice has announced that its SuperSport has secured the licence to the Barclays Premier League Live Package A and will be showing these matches on SuperSport from this weekend.

A release from the South African satelite broadcaster this morning said SuperSport already held both Live Package A & B rights for South Africa and Live Package B rights for the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa and with this deal has now secured all Premier League live rights till June 2010.

"SuperSport is proud of its long association with the Premier League and has a long history of showcasing the finest club soccer on its range of channels," the release said.

"We are pleased that Barclays Premier League supporters on the continent will continue to enjoy the best of the league," said SuperSport Chief Executive Imtiaz Patel. "We are delighted to have Package A matches in the SuperSport fold. We'll continue to deliver the very best in sports broadcasting."

"Viewers in Africa will immediately benefit, with a number of appetising Barclays Premier League fixtures - a live triple-header this Saturday and another big match on Sunday," the release added.

Eben Greyling President of MultiChoice said "We have over 20 years experience in pay television in Africa and have built up a business which is sustainable in the long term. Our track record of providing premium content to DStv subscribers is unmatched and the return of all Premier League matches will further enhance our premium offering."

Premier League Director of Media Operations, Phil Lines, said: 'We are very pleased to have been able to move quickly and reach an agreement with SuperSport that means our matches will remain available for viewing by Premier League fans across sub-Sahara Africa with the minimum of disruption'

MultiChoice will offer discounted DStv decoders to former GTV subscribers wishing to view these Barclays Premier League matches.

Existing satellite dishes of GTV subscribers are compatible with DStv decoders and will simply need to be re-pointed by an accredited DStv installer . 

GTV is a subsidiary of the UK-based Gateway Broadcast Services.  Multichoice is a subsidiary of Africa's largest pay tv company Naspers Limited.