DSTV has fiber |14 August 2023

Mr Morgan (left) and Mr Kapuku exchange documents after signing the MoU

•           MultiChoice DSTV and Airtel Seychelles sign agreement

DSTV Seychelles will be implementing fiber optics as an option to replace satellite dish in order to bring more affordable options to the public and to offer them different programmes along with new features.

This was announced last week at the Airtel headquarters, in Perseverance, in a partnership signing between MultiChoice DSTV and Airtel Seychelles, as the telecommunications partner.

MultiChoice managing director, Joel Morgan, and chief executive of Airtel, Eddy Kapuku, both signed on behalf of their respective companies.

Mr Morgan stated that this partnership is something that has been in the work for quite some time and it has a lot to do with the development of both competence and capacity, which along with the offers of different programmes and internet, it also brings features such as video on demand (Showmax).

He acknowledged that there are competitors who are already offering this service through IPTV. The system that will be in place with Airtel will be different, as it will be using an encryption service with regular DSTV decoders. This means that clients who already have their DSTV decoders will not need to change anything and will eventually be able to connect either their house or establishment with an Airtel service via Fiber-Optic cable, which can give internet, data, voice and mobile services.

“This revolutionises the requirements that clients had before for DSTV because they used to need a satellite dish. With the new system that we are putting in place, it will use fiber and it will use the same core fiber with Airtel, directly in the house of the client,” he explained.

The way that it will be installed is that Airtel will have their fiber-optic router which the decoder will be plugged into, essentially having two devices. It is important to note that internet is essential for the fiber-optics. The customer will have to go through Airtel for the internet package and DSTV will offer the customer the channel services. It is not mutually exclusive unless the customer decides to keep their satellite dish. Airtel is also free to install its internet services for customers. In addition, someone who already has their internet fiber-optics installed in their home, can have DSTV installed. Customers can also go to DSTV to make Airtel bill payments and vice-versa.

Furthermore, the decoder will be available with two options; purchase or rent basis, which will approximately be 50 rupees per month, depending on what sort of option a customer wants. With the advanced decoders, it will have the capacity to record, use a time-lapse feature and the ability to catch up on series. “We are offering a whole host of new features, and this partnership with Airtel, will give us the capacity to do so.”

With regard to the prices, the lowest price starts at around R250 for a basic package and goes all the way to R1300 for a full package with more than 180 channels. “Based on the budget of the subscriber, we have different options for example, we have 140 channels which is around R750 per month and a whole other price ranges,” Mr Morgan stated.

“Furthermore, at any time, a client can upgrade or downgrade depending on their spending. For example, they could go from the highest package to the lowest package should they choose to or somewhere in the middle. It permits clients to migrate.”

With the signing of the agreement, DSTV will not only be using Fiber-Optics in Seychelles but across the African continent. Moreover, it also brings DSTV on another dimension in terms of giving Airtel the capacity to offer Triple-Play or Quad-Play (TV, Phone, Internet and Cable TV services).

The equipment necessary to do this procedure has already been ordered and is arriving for testing on the fiber backbone of Airtel. Once the tests are accomplished, it can officially be launched. “This gives our local and tourist customers more options with DSTV.”

The advantages of Fiber-Optics include the lowered price of installation since it does away with labour costs and the satellite dish. Furthermore, the weather will no longer have an impact on the channels due to the removal of a satellite dish.

In regards to the actual satellite dishes themselves, Director Morgan stated that there will eventually be a plan on how to deal with them due to the fact that not all the locations will be able to have fiber. “We could have a plan where we buy-back the dishes for the more isolated places where fiber cannot go to.”

CEO Kapuku described the signing as a milestone. “Airtel is always listening to its customer. Today we are giving choice to the customer. Choice of quality content because we are partnering up with the best in the sector of TV.”

He stated that this partnership is essential to provide better quality to the customer in terms of content and to provide more competition and choice. “We know that what exists in the market today have some limitations over some of the content they can provide so that is why we have partnered up with DSTV first to reduce the cost of living.”

He emphasised the advantages that Mr Morgan pointed out and added that Airtel is an asset for Seychelles, working and helping with the development of the country to ease the life of the population. “Overall, we are enriching lives for the people of Seychelles.”

He stated that there were some people who enjoyed particular programmes but could not understand it because of the language barrier but with the partnership, they will be able to overcome this and the Seychellois population will no longer have to struggle with French and other languages.

Customers can express their interest for these types of services if they are interested and can be attended to when the materials arrive in the country.

He concluded by stating that there is a lot more partnerships to come and that this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Despite the need for internet, buffering will not be an issue due to the fact that it is not an internet-based streaming service for DSTV. It sits on the same fiber as the IP stream but it is actually a digital video broadcast stream meaning there is no buffering whatsoever.

A lot of the channels are in High Definition (HD 1080p).

Sunny Esparon