Early this year, Liquid Telecom announced plans to launch different product offerings to for the market. The firm announced the launch of its Hai internet service targeting the retail market segment which includes packages targeting small businesses as well as home connections. As a value added service, Liquid will be offering subscribers ipidi TV, a video-on-demand service. The firm also announced it would be looking to launch a data protection service called Crash Plan that allows firms to backup their data.
In an interesting development, Liquid Telecom has announced it will be seeking linear TV licenses through the Hai for its recently launched Kwese TV. This will see the firm compete with among others Multichoice, Wananchi’s Zuku and StarTimes. Once granted, it will offer broadband services, TV, and video on demand to customers through Ipidi TV. According to Tech Moran, the Hai offering is meant to capture the home and retail markets where Liquid has little presence unlike the corporate segment, which it has managed to capture.
Kwese TV was launched early this year and seeks to disrupt the African sports TV segment with Kwese Sports. Kwese Sports has since acquired rights to broadcast the English Premier League in 50 African countries. This market has been dominated by MultiChoice with its SuperSport channels that broadcast on DSTV. Kwese TV is set to launch in August 2016. Currently, Hai offers broadband and Ipidi TV which comes in two packages including ipidi flix and ipidi box office. The ipidi flix service allows users to watch content by paying a monthly subscription fee. ipidi box office, on the other hand, allows users to browse through content and pay for it every time they watch it. Users can view the content on TV, desktop, laptop and even mobile.
