Safaricom last friday finally released its internet modem + TV decoder + media streaming box all in one. To me this is another great innovation.
Here’s why;
Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile network has predominantly been making money through voice services and lately mobile money or M-Pesa. But now the company is seriously vying the emerging data market. Now the company knows that many people spend lots of time in front of their TV screens as much as they do with their smartphones. So what other better way to invade the living room by creating a service that provides users with both online video streaming and Free-to-Air(FTA) TV options?
Safaricom knows well that, while they are free, people will often get bored by FTA channels. It also knows that while the box allows users to access and consume their own media library via USB and HDMI ports, users will eventually look elsewhere for more content.
Now the internet has almost limitless content through Video sharing sites like Youtube, so the company created data plans specifically for its media box so that subscribers can connect to the internet for more content, giving the telecom more data revenue. But more than that, while the kids can enjoy Youtube videos, the box has a hotspot feature, so dad can finish his work on his laptop without interrupting home entertainment.
The telecom is being a TV service provider while at the same time not canalizing on one of its core revenue streams. Digital TV providers in Kenya on the other hand with the exception of Zuku aren’t eating away some of the data/voice revenues that the Telecoms solely enjoy. Safaricom seems to be doing to Television broadcasters what it did to traditional banks.
The challenge now for Safaricom is invest in content creation or content providers just like what Startimes is doing with iROko TV or what Zuku is doing with its afro-centric channels.