Vodacom has developed what it’s calling a “new way to watch video via mobile” with an app called Video Play, which utilises spare network capacity to download and cache selected content at a reduced cost to consumers.
“Users preselect their content, which is then downloaded during low-demand periods (typically overnight),” the mobile operator said in a statement.
“Rather than billing per unit of data, Video Play bills in minutes, not megabytes, allowing customers to easily control and manage their spend.”
The app offers access to a selection of mobile videos from content producers such as eNCA, e.tv, Urban Brew and MobiTV, Vodacom explained.
The initial content consists of music videos, with a focus on gospel, local and African music. The selection will be expanded over time.
“Once in the app, users select the videos they want to watch and add them to their download queue. Video Play then manages the download of the content to the device overnight. Once downloaded, the customer can watch the videos offline whenever they want,” the operator said in the statement.
Users have to buy a prepaid bundle of minutes, available in the app, to use the service. There is no charge for browsing, only for the minutes of the video they download, it said. “For example, if a three-minute video is downloaded, only three minutes will be deducted from the video bundle. No other data charges apply.”
A 30-minute bundle costs R5. Additional bundle sizes are planned.
The Video Play app is available for download in the Android and BlackBerry app stores. Other platforms will follow “soon”. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media
