MultiChoice’s DStv brand is well known and they have tried to diversity the brand into various technologies so that people access it even easier. There is the classic DStv satellite package, the relatively new DStv Now but there was a seemingly forgotten service that they used to offer: DStv over DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld).
Now it is being reported that MultiChoice Kenya is set to discontinue the DVB-H service where they attribute it to fast changing technology in the broadcasting sector and the growing Internet penetration.
“Our Mobile TV service was first launched in 2007. At the time, we were the first to pioneer technology to broadcast to mobile phones,” Business Daily reports. “However as the tech evolved and with the introduction of broadband, the streaming of audiovisual content to multiple devices (eg. smartphones, tablets, laptops) has become more attractive.”
MultiChoice says that the DVB-H service and the devices that used this tech have reached their end of life and this means that the DStv Mobile and GOtv Mobile TV service will end on September 1st.
The DVB-H tech was in a number of devices. A number of Nokia phones had DVB-H tech like the Nokia N8 and the Nokia 5330 ‘Mobile TV Edition.’ MultiChoice also offered the DStv Walka, which was a DVB-H handheld TV device and the Drifta which was a USB DVB-H decoder.
This move is no surprise from Multichoice. The TV space has changed quite drastically in the past few years thanks to the shift to streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Video. MultiChoice has hopped onto this new trend with their ShowMax streaming service as well as bolstering DStv Now by supporting more devices which both target the mobile viewer, so there is no need to keep on supporting DVB-H services.
