Naspers-owned video-on-demand platform ShowMax has reached a deal with Internet service provider MWeb in terms of which users will get three months of “free” ADSL along with three months of complimentary access to ShowMax.
The offer is time-limited, however. It’s available until 31 March to customers who sign up for a 12-month subscription to one of MWeb’s ADSL service products, excluding its 1GB, 2GB, 5GB capped and uncapped 1Mbit/s services.
“The mechanics of the offer are that customers who sign up will receive three months of free MWeb ADSL service as well as a complimentary voucher for 90 days’ access to ShowMax. They will then be billed for both the ShowMax and ADSL amounts for the remaining months of the 12-month contract,” ShowMax said in a statement.
News of the deal with MWeb comes just a week after America’s Netflix, the largest global provider of subscription video-on-demand over the Internet, was launched in markets around the world, including South Africa. Even after the Netflix launch, however, ShowMax claims to have the “largest subscription video library in Africa”.
MWeb is a sister company to ShowMax in the Naspers stable. It is owned by pay-television operator MultiChoice, the parent of DStv, M-Net and SuperSport.
The deal between the companies comes five weeks after Telkom announced a plan to zero-rate ShowMax data on certain of its tariff plans, allowing consumers to stream video content without it contributing to their data cap.
The offer applies to new and existing Telkom “Summer Unlimited” users. That move came after MTN decided to zero-rate access to its video-on-demand service FrontRow, which was recently rebranded as VU. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media