A few months after the shut down of Africa’s largest video on demand platform, MTN has launched a new streaming service, One TV, as part of a push to expand its presence in online media, starting in South Africa and Zambia. This comes a year after Africa’s largest mobile provider announced a deal to create a new video streaming platform with UK based Synamedia. The group said MTN One TV “brings together local storytelling, live channels, international programming,and market-specific viewing options tailored to how customers across the continent access and pay for digital entertainment”.The company wades into a market in which the continent’s largest paid service, Showmax, found it difficult to turn a profit, with MultiChoice’s new owner Canal+ choosing to cut the service. Until now, MTN has partnered with third party video-on-demand providers to promote their platforms, making its money through data bundles consumed on its network to access such services. The group has such partnerships with Disney+ and Viu. Customers typically access the services at cheaper rates. In the case of One TV, MTN customers will have different access options depending on which market they are in. This will include free-to-view content, advertising-funded viewing, pay-as-you-watch access and subscription offerings. “Depending on local availability, customers may also be able to pay through airtime, Mobile Money and other locally supported payment methods, helping to reduce common barriers to streaming access,” said the group. With more than 312-million existing customers for its mobile service, MTN is pitching its new service as an opportunity for African creators, broadcasters and advertisers to offer content to a broader audience, leveraging the mobile operator’s vast scale on the continent. “Entertainment is increasingly becoming an important gateway to digital participation,” said Selorm Adadevoh, the group’s chief commercial officer.“Through MTN One TV, we are leveraging the scale of our connectivity, fintech, and digital capabilities to make relevant content more accessible while creating new opportunities for Africa’s creative and digital economies.”The group will use a phased roll out for the service, launching in different markets according to “local market needs, existing services, and partnership opportunities”.This is not MTN’s first foray into streaming. In 2018, the company launched MusicTime, a music streaming service which allowed customers to buy time on the service, data inclusive, as opposed to a monthly subscription. At the time, then CEO Rob Shuter saw thr model as a way to stand out from major streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer, whose fees stood at about R60 a month, with an added cost of accessing the services on Wi-Fi or mobile networks.Outside of data deals and building its own platform, MTN has also partnered with MultiChoice, providing the connectivity for its DStv Internet offering. Essentially a mobile virtual network operator, the service bundles video content streaming and connectivity for MultiChoice customers.