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Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Tech Times
ATCON visits Saraki, advises on dangers of ICT tax bill Page 29
PIN describes CLI bill as dangerous law in waiting Page 30
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Nigeria ranks second most developed pay-TV market in Africa Stories by Tony Nwakaegho Frost & Sullivan’s “Pay-TV, Video-on-Demand, and IPTV Growth Opportunities in Africa” report which studies on the South African, Nigerian and Kenyan markets has ranked Nigeria as the second most developed pay-TV market in Africa. The market analyst firm indicated also the pay-TV, video-on-demand (VOD), and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services market is growing rapidly as significant Internet penetration and smartphone adoption in Africa alter the manner in which consumers view content. According to the report, growth will be augmented by the availability of cheaper digital terrestrial television services, data-saving video consumption options and attractively packaged triple-play services. MultiChoice DStv and GOtv, and StarTimes according to Frost & Sullivan, are among the leading pan-African pay-TV operators, while IROKOtv, ShowMax and Netflix lead the VOD space. It indicated that despite DStv’s dominance, South Africa has the most developed pay-TV market, whereas triple-play services are more developed in Kenya. It points out that partnerships between payTV operators and telecommunication companies are expected to gain traction as this extends the reach of pay-TV services, while enabling telecommunication service providers to capture new revenue streams. It noted that Vodacom is looking to partner with MultiChoice and attract customers by offering a fixed price to download content on a subscriber’s mobile device rather than billing per megabyte. Frost & Sullivan added that Africa’s large population and demographics make it a highly at-
tractive market for new and existing participants. “It is critical for market participants to gauge viewership trends, price sensitivity and technical requirements while offering their services,” said Deepti Dhinakaran, Frost & Sullivan’s digital transformation research analyst. “In terms of pricing and richness of content, strategic partnerships will be crucial in defining the market leader in the next five years,” Dhinakaran added. However, Frost & Sullivan revealed that pay-TV, VOD and IPTV growth opportunities in Africa are hindered by spiralling cost of operations, primarily due to international currency requirements, slow download speed and high costs of Internet access. To overcome these challenges, the analyst firm revealed that providers are trying to achieve economies of scale by expanding across the continent and partnering with mobile operators. It believes this will en-
able subscribers to access content through a small monthly subscription fee while minimising data costs for operators and subscribers. It stressed that innovative pay-TV and VOD providers such as StarTimes, MultiChoice, iROKOtv, Ericsson, Zuku, MTN and Safaricom are prioritising their content strategy according to the preferences of their subscribers, while offering services across multiple platforms such as Web sites, mobile apps and other partner platforms. “The market shows huge opportunity for ‘value-for-money’ services, especially in South Africa, from providers that offer the right mix of content at a competitive price with a sophisticated, user-friendly interface. Service segments such as triple-play and IPTV services have a high growth potential,” Dhinakaran pointed out.
Dearth of funds halts bandwidth infrastructure to connect 27 universities
FG, Israel partner to fight cyber crimes Page 31
Dearth of fund has become an impediment to the Nigeria University Commission’s Nigerian Research and Educational Network (NgREN) which was launched two years ago leaving 27 universities scrabbling for bandwidth that is needed for connectivity. NgREN is a partnership between the Federal Ministry of Education, The World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology to provide state-of-the-art, high speed, efficient and affordable network infrastructure and services in aid of innovative research, communication and collaboration by member institutions. Austin Okere, founder, Computer Warehouse Group, (CWG) the company that implemented the project highlighted the
shortcoming of this project at the median edition of ICT Success Summit held recently in Lagos. Okere lamented that this development does not portend good for Nigerian universities’ preparedness to complete globally with others.
“This infrastructure has been idle for over a year now because government and universities could not afford to buy bandwidth. It is just like DSTV, if you don’t pay your subscription you don’t get service. They can’t buy bandwidth that will
run on the infrastructure. I’m worried that each time we take one step forward the next time, it is two steps backwards,” Okere added. Daily gathered that the infrastructure which is aimed at providing some 27 universities that have been connected to suffered a setback due to lack of funding after the initial take-off grant was exhausted without plans to sustain it, thereby leaving universities to pay for the service. However, Dewole Ajao, operations manager, Bandwidth Consortium, explained that beyond just downloading from the Internet, students and researchers in connected universities should be empowered to further their research and education using NgREN.