Multinational media and technology company Naspers is gearing up to unveil an Internet streaming service that will take on Netflix in developing markets.

A person with knowledge of the matter has said that Naspers will launch the streaming service at an event in Johannesburg next week.

Furthermore, it’s understood that the service will be part of a new Naspers company that is separate to pay-television service MultiChoice.

Naspers owns MultiChoice, which delivers pay-TV services to 50 countries and more than 8m households across sub-Saharan Africa. Naspers also has global interests with stakes in Chinese Internet giant Tencent, Russia’s mail.ru and Middle Eastern e-commerce service Souq.com.

It is unclear what content the Naspers streaming service will offer. However, it is expected to be an extensive array, with local and international productions that cater to developing markets like South Africa.

The move by Naspers to launch an Internet streaming service also comes as Netflix plans to roll out its offering in more markets, including South Africa, by the end of 2016.

Local data centre company Teraco said earlier this year that it has been in discussions with Netflix about bringing the service to South Africa.

In the meantime, other companies have launched streaming services in South Africa. Times Media Group launched Vidi last year, while MTN also has its FrontRow offering. — Fin24