StarTimes set to launch Zimbabwean service

Chinese-backed pan-African pay TV provider StarTimes is set to launch in Zimbabwe under the StarSat brand, according to local reports.

StarTimes country manager Brenda Matshazi told local news service TechZim that the pay TV outfit had secured a DTH licence and was in the process of setting up operations.

According to the report, StarSat decoders will be available for the equivalent of US$36 (€34), with five packages being available to Zimbabwean viewers for between US$9 and US$19.

StarSat’s main competition in Zimbabwe is South African pay TV leader MultiChoice’s DStv service.

Rival pay TV service Kwesé TV, whose founder is Zimbabwean businessman Strive Masiyiwa, has yet to secure the necessary permissions to launch in Masiyiwa’s home country.

The service recently launched in Ghana, Rwanda and neighbouring Zambia, offering a bouquet of channels for about US$25 a month.

Masiyiwa told press that Kwesé would launch in Zimbabwe as soon as it received a licence, which he expected to happen soon.