Econet Wireless planning new African pay TV service

Strive Masiyiwa

Econet Wireless, the mobile telecom operator owned by Zimbabwean businessman Stive Masiyiwa, is planning to launch a new pay TV service called Kwesé TV.

Masiyiwa announced on his Facebook page in December that the service will offer a range of sports and entertainment programming to sub-Saharan African countries, including to mobile users. He said that the service would offer “value for money, premium and exclusive content”, with a quality offering at an affordable price.

Masiyiwa said that the service had acquired exclusive content, including sports rights for the service. Rights acquired so far include those to Spain’s Copa del Rey, which is available free to view on the Kwese Sports website.

Econet’s satellite and fibre network across Africa will be used to provide distribution for the service, which will be available across multiple devices, according to Masiyiwa. The company’s satellite unit, Liquid Sat, has built a platform to deliver a DTH service.