Ellies’ “triple-play” offering of television, broadband and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony will be available in about a month’s time and consumers will be able to choose the components they want.
The company’s CEO, Wayne Samson, says the newly created Ellies Connect subsidiary isn’t yet in a position to reveal how much each component of the package will cost.
Consumers will be able to pick connectivity (provided by satellite broadband company SkyeVine, in which Ellies is an investor), telephony (through wireless operator iBurst’s VoIP service), and entertainment (from forthcoming free-to-air satellite service OpenView HD and/or MultiChoice’s pay-television platform, DStv).
Satellite download speeds will be as much as 10Mbit/s.
Samson says Ellies will use its “store within a store” points of presence to inform consumers about Ellies Connect products and demonstrate how they work.
It’s unclear what sort of tiers the various Ellies Connect packages will offer in terms of content or bandwidth, but Samson suggests consumers will be able to customise each aspect of their package.
He says the company is offering satellite broadband for connectivity despite iBurst’s involvement. This is because the company is targeting people in outlying areas where mobile 3G and fixed digital subscriber line (DSL) connections may not be an option.
“We’re offering Internet via satellite because 90% of South Africa still isn’t properly covered by 3G or DSL,” Sampson says.
He says the company hopes to sign up between 2 000 to 3 000 customers in the first year. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
