As Africa’s digital TV industry blossoms and the pay-TV industry becomes increasingly competitive, StarTimes Group has adopted a variation-and-balance strategy to meet the increased subscriber needs while positioning the brand as a leader in the African market.
It has managed to achieve this through different strategies which include the following:
New device introductions – Real Digital TV sets
In November 2016, the firm unveiled its ground-breaking product – the real Digital TV, this being a new business unit that marked the entry of the StarTimes digital television sets in the African market.
The development complemented the pay television offering the brand has operated in the past years which saw the introduction of the StarTimes 24, 32, 40, 42, 43 and of late 55 inch television sets.
“Our commitment to research and development is unwavering, we continue to explore ways and means to not only introduce the latest technology in the market but also provide affordable solutions key in ensuring majority of households have access, can afford and enjoy StarTimes digital television,” notes Hans Han, Group Marketing Director of company.
One of the key features that stand out for the StarTimes Digital TV sets is the ability to receive both satellite and terrestrial television signals without connecting an external set top box. The new television product has proven to be very popular in the market in as it is also designed to decode digital signals by itself while utilising a single remote control to manage both the content and the television set thereby saving customers valuable resources which would have otherwise been utilized to acquire a separate set top box.
StarTimes Digital TV adopts intelligent operating system, which supports remote system maintenance and upgrade. The intelligent operation system will ensure that the digital TV can always run in optimum state and upgrade the latest services of StarTimes.
Comparing with traditional CRT TV sets, StarTimes Digital TV is designed to save up to 50percent power, allowing subscribers to enjoy better viewing experience with less living costs. It also comes with full High Definition LED screen, Dolby audio system, wide voltage input, HDMI and USB ports that extend an array of options to the user.
Spearheading affordability in the Pay-TV industry
As leading Pay-TV operator in Africa, the vision of StarTimes is to make digital-TV products and service affordable for every African family. StarTimes’ content is comprehensive in an effort to meet the diverse television viewing preferences across the African markets. With over 480 channels in various genres including News, Sports, Music, Entertainment, Documentaries, TV series, Movies, Religion, Fashion, Children’s programming as well as the local channels.
For over 20 years, digital television in Africa was out of reach for the majority of African households however, the entry of StarTimes in 2008 changed this situation by introducing affordable cost of entry including the cost of acquiring set top boxes as well as subscription fees as low as $ 2.
This has facilitated more and more households to not only access information but also entertainment key in bridging the digital divide that has been in existence. StarTimes Digital TV continues to enable more and more households have access to the digital TV network on terrestrial and satellite services.
Changing people’s perception of digital migration
StarTimes continues to enhance digitization and development of the digital TV industry in Africa. With a majority of African countries having already transitioned from analogue to digital broadcasting, StarTimes is now the key partner in Africa in her effort to progressively migrate from analogue to digital.
The introduction of digital television sets, StarTimes light set top boxes and Combo set top boxes are some of the efforts geared towards ensuring households have access to the latest technology in their access of digital broadcast services.
The new decoders of StarTimes now have been upgraded with the advanced H.265 technology. With H.265, half of the bandwidth of the video transmission can be saved, without compromising video quality. This enables StarTimes to provide more high quality video contents to customers with an affordable cost.
Today, through these affordable devices, more and more households have access to crystal clear television channels ensuring perfect reception of their audio visual television content. As a result of digitization of broadcast services, households now have access to more channels with relevant content genres such as farming, religious, educational as well as entertainment.
StarTimes has equally taken a step ahead and ensured the provision of high definition services with the set top boxes having HDMI ports where subscribers with access to high definition television sets can enjoy crystal high definition images while connecting the devices using a HDMI cable and watching an array of StarTimes high definition channels.
Enhanced service delivery
Another area where StarTimes has put a lot of emphasis is the after sales service. The establishment of 24 hour 7 days a week call centres across the brand’s African operations has gone a long way towards instilling subscriber confidence in the company’s products and services as in the event of relevant queries or challenges, the same is able to be attended to in shortest time possible.
The company has equally set up brand halls these being a one-stop service devised to ensure the perfect subscriber experience based on the brand’s precise service arrangement plan and professional staff to solve potential service requests in the process guaranteeing friendly and efficient service from professional Customer Service Representatives.
Aftersales engineers are equally professionally hired and systematically trained to ensure the highest level of after-sale service. This enables customers to receive specialised technical assistance at no extra cost thereby ensuring uninterrupted television viewing experiences.
Keeping up with latest trends and innovation – OTT
With the popularisation of smartphones and mobile internet access in Africa, more and more people, especially the young are streaming videos on phones. To fulfill the demand, Africa’s leading digital TV operator, StarTimes, has pioneered its video streaming service in the African market.
StarTimes Mobile Application has seen over 60 premium television channels available on mobile devices in Africa.
The StarTimes Mobile APP which is compatible to the Android and iOS systems is now available for download on Google Play and Apple App Store will feature live television channels, electronic program guide as well as enabling users to catch up on their favorite programs that they could have missed.
The APP also features Standard Definition (SD), High Definition (HD) and Ultra High Definition (UHD) content in four languages namely English, French, Portuguese and Kiswahili. This will allow users to access diverse content genres including local content, sports, telenovelas, movies, documentaries, news and music.
“At StarTimes, we want to progressively grow avenues where users can access our content anywhere at any time. The introduction of the StarTimes APP is therefore strategic in that we will be in a position to reach our subscribers across Africa at their convenience ensuring they do not miss their favorite content when away from the screen,” noted Mr. William Masy, StarTimes Overseas PR Director.
The StarTimes APP is designed to be user friendly under 2G/ 3G or 4G networks enabling users to enjoy smooth streaming service under any network.
According to an annual report released by global digital agencies, Africa has seen the fastest growth rates in internet penetration, with the number of internet users across the continent increasingly by more than 20% compared to 2017. And a statistic showed that average mobile connection speeds in Africa increased by more than 30 percent over the past year.
And IDC’s research shows that 4G phones are growing in popularity in African market with accounting for a majority share of the smartphone market at 52.9percent. A drop in prices for entry-level 4G phones and an increase in the number of 4G networks across the continent are driving this growth in 4G devices.
Masy said: “Africa is progressing towards greater connectivity, prices are falling and StarTimes App will be a convenient platform that will provide rich contents to Africans.”
Opening a window for African rural villagers to learn outside world
On December 4th, 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would implement satellite TV programs for 10 thousand African villages, when he was delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
The China-African Cooperation project, known as “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages”, aims to enable people in African rural villages to watch satellite TV.
As Africa’s leading digital TV operator, StarTimes is honored to undertake the project of “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages” and accomplish the project under the guide of Chinese and African governments.
Chinese government will aid each village with two StarTimes Projector TVs, one 32 inch Digital TV set and 20 DTH decoders and satellite dishes. Projector TVs and Digital TV set will be equipped with solar power systems and DTH access units.
The Projector TVs and Digital TV set will be laid out in the public area of the village, like school or village clinic, which could allow all villagers, especially kids, to enjoy the wonderful digital TV programs.
For the 20 families who accept the DTH access equipments for free, they can watch more than 30 TV channels with a minimum subscription fee, which will include news, sports, entertainment, music, cartoon, education, documentary, etc. And all subscription fees will be fully used in maintaining the operation of the project, covering costs of man power, transportation, after-sale service and other functions. And the projector TVs and digital TV that are laid out in public areas will be open to all villagers for permanent free.
The implementation of the project will open a window for African rural families to learn outside world. People can not only be able to watch wonderful TV programs, but also acquire more useful information to expand their horizon and change their destinies. To popularize satellite TV in African rural areas, in which information resources are very limited, will help people there to learn knowledge and get rid of poverty.
Through the satellite TVs, African governments can popularize knowledge of agriculture, science, sanitation and so on in rural villages. By watching TV, people can learn more useful knowledge and skills.
The project can also create huge job opportunities and sustainably contribute to the growth of economy. To ensure the long-term operation of the project, a mast of local staffs will be hired to fulfill different duties.
Digital TV used to be luxury in African market with a very high price, but the project of “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages” makes it possible for people in African rural villages to enjoy the beauty of digital TV. The project will not only help break the monopoly of digital TV industry in African market, but also promote the balanced development in African region.
