Pan-African broadcaster Kwese TV has launched mobile television service Kwese TV Everywhere (TVE) in Zimbabwe, enabling customers to tether their decoder channels to their phones. A Kwese decoder account comes with up to five TVE accounts.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe CEO Douglas Mboweni said this would be the beginning of a different mobile TV service in Zimbabwe. He said Kwese customers in Zimbabwe would soon be able to do "TV roaming" in other countries where Kwese is available. To support the mobile television service, Econet has rolled out more than 575 fixed Wi-Fi hotspots and 240 mobile sites in the country, in collaboration with sister company ZOL.
Mboweni said Kwese customers can use the service by downloading the Kwese App from the Apple App Store or Google Play on their smartphones or tablets. They should then enter the account details that are only available to customers with a Kwese decoder. Head of Econet Media Zimbabwe, Dorothy Zimuto, claimed that the Kwese team had been overwhelmed by demand for its service and were now working to hire more Technites (installers).
The launch of Kwese TV in Zimbabwe has led to the creation of more than 2,500 direct jobs, along with many more downstream opportunities.
Kwese TV now operates in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, Zambia, Swaziland, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kenya and Botswana. In addition, Kwese Free Sports (KFS) operates in 23 African countries.