Satellite TV service provider, TSTV says its TSTV Africa, will begin commercial operation on Nov. 1. Tstv Managing Director, Mr Bright Echefu, announced this on Saturday while briefing newsmen in Abuja. He added that TSTV would launch its services with about one million decoders nationwide. He said that at least 5,000 decoders TSTV would be released to the public next week for free, adding that it would use the first set of decoders with one-month free subscription to test run its services.
“Commercialization of our decoders will resume officially on Nov. 1 and by that time, every part of Nigeria would have TSTV decoders for people to buy. We are releasing about one million which can go round and our target for the first quarter is one million units. In every quarter we will bring one million units and we are targeting four million units within the next one year. I can tell you categorically that some decoders will be released next week for Nigerians to test and we are going to cover the 36 states of the federation. These decoders are going to be free and it close to 5,000 units to test and that will last for two weeks,’’ he said.
The DTH pay TV, offers 200 rich blend of local and international channels and packages for entertainment, including news, sports, kids, health, etc.
These will be distributed on the ABS 3A Africa beam, located at 3 degrees west, beginning with 100 channels. TStv will also show live sports like Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Europa League and much more. Some sport channels on TStv Africa are Sport 1-10, Fox Sport HD, and Ts Sports.
Running on 4.5G network, every subscriber will get 20G of data for N3,000 monthly. The data can also be used for video calls conferences with camera and WiFi. The TStv decoder has 50GB hard disk to record TV programmes and a pause/play function. Echefu had during the signing of the multi-transponder agreement with their ABS partner, said their services would offer viewers the experience of HD and SD video, internet services, broadband, TVand radio, at very affordable rates.
“What makes the project unique is that it would start with 100 channels of local, regional and international programmes in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ghanaian, Sierra Leonean, Liberian languages, among others”, he said.
Echefu noted that TStv has the right content and premium product to satisfy the growing demand of Nigerians. “It would assist ABS take Nollywood and Sport to great heights. Their sport channel is the bomb! EPL, La liga, and Champion League are amazing!
“With TStv, you don’t need to pay subscription monthly or periodically. You pay as you consume.
“It is the first Nigerian TV to launch a pay-as-you-consume, so you can pause your subscription whenever you are travelling.
“It is just N5000 for the decoder and dish and subscription prices ranges from N200, N500, N1,000, N1,500 and N3,000, respectively”.
Also speaking, Madu Ugo, Head of Corporate Communications, welcomed Nigerians to “a new world”. He assured citizens that TStv will “ensure that their yearnings about pay TV are met”. “We are here to provide the best products and services. We urge every one to get their decoders and start enjoying sports, news, movies, documentaries, soap operas and others”.
TStv Africa aims to cover all 36 states in Nigeria but launches first in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Kano. According to him, TSTV has improved on its transmission facilities to overcome weather challenges while expressing happiness over the acceptance by Nigerians. He praised the Federal Government for the three-year tax relief granted to the company to encourage more investors to come to Nigeria.
He said that the company would consolidate on the new tax policy to grow its business in the country and recoup its investment.
On the alleged copyright infringement on two international content providers, Turner Broadcasting System and beIN sports, Echefu said the company entered into partnership agreement with every concerned organisation.
According to him, TSTV will air CNN and beIN sport channels.