TelOne banks on broadband expansion to boost new video-on-demand service

'Broadband is our future and we continue to invest so much on it'

BULAWAYO – TelOne is rolling out its online video streaming service countrywide.

The fixed line network launched Digital Entertainment on Demand (DEOD) in Harare last week, and in its first outreach outside the capital, TelOne launched the service in Bulawayo on Thursday.

In partnership with Discover Digital, a South African company, TelOne is targeting the content-on-demand market.

Prominent personalities, artists and social influencers were invited to the launch at a local hotel.

Viewers can access a movie from DEOD starting from $1.50 over a 48-hour period while a monthly premium bouquet that gives access to all channels costs $11.99.

If audiences cannot afford the monthly package, they can buy a weekly bouquet which is $4.50 or choose to view a weekender, which they can use for Saturday and Sunday for $2.50.

Viewers can also access DEOD on a daily basis for 90 cents.

Speaking at the launch Thursday, head of marketing and business development at TelOne, Maureen Chirambaguwa, said the DEOD platform is integrated with local service channels to make payment very easy.

“I’m referring to all mobile money networks and you can access the product online. You can pay with mobile money, swipe with local currency, pay cash at TelOne shops and be able to access the product. To register, one can go website: deod.tv.zw and then follow a step-by-step process. The next step is to download a mobile app for either android phone or an iPhone,” she noted.

She said this innovation came at a strategic time for TelOne after its completion of the $98 million China-exim facility that supported its national broadband project to deploy fibre to over 33,000 homes.

“We’re now targeting 100,000 homes by 2019 and this means those who’re already TelOne customers and are connected to the broadband package will access DEOD at zero-rate. Those not on TelOne will also be able to access the product but the data will not be zero-rated.”

On behalf of TelOne Managing Director, Chipo Mutasa, Divisional Director Retail, Joseph Machiva, said DEOD marked a milestone in the transformation of the telephone company.

“We’ve been known as telephone company for over five decades and over the past five years we embarked on a journey, which has seen the business transform, anchored with traditional landline to broadband. Broadband is our future and we continue to invest so much on it,” he said.

Machiva said TelOne has been trying to roll out the service since 2014 but experienced some false starts.

“Most notably last year, a press conference was planned, invites sent out but we were called and told we would be arrested if we launched but now we have launched. Lots of work, lots of investment went into launching the service,” he said.

“Instead of parking the product, project and investment, we decided to do a distribution agreement which allows TelOne to learn the content business while also coming up with a long term plan of setting up our own platform.”

There are 3 tiers of content; On Demand, Subscription and DEOD Premium
Each DEOD account will support up to 5 devices
Users can watch on desktop, mobile (Android or iOS)
The service allows you to also rent movies. $2.50 for SD movies and $3 for HD movies.
The movie catalogue has a three-month lag with cinema release which is about the time period it takes for a digital release of major movies.
The site will also offer sections for staff picks, new releases and content that’s about to disappear from the library altogether.

DEOD Premium

DEOD Premium offers a combination of News, Sport and On Demand for a take-all special price of $11.99 for 30 days. If you’re not interested in a monthly payment you can also pay a weekly ($4.50) or weekend ($2.50) fee.

DEOD On Demand

On Demand takes away the sports offerings and according to TelOne;

On Demand includes an always growing catalogue of hundreds of hours of TV shows, movies, kids programs, music videos, exclusive to DEOD series, inspirational and educational content, daily sports news and a whole lot more, accessible at your leisure for the whole family.

For 30 days of access, you’ll part with $5.99. Weekly, Weekend and Daily prices are $2.75, $1.55 and $0.90 respectively.

DEOD TV

This will be a mix of sports and news and will cost $8.99.

There’s a 7-day trial for DEOD Premium if you sign-up before the 31st of October. To access this you’ll pay a $1.

Payments

Payments for the DEOD service will be facilitated via a number of different channels: