Uganda’s GTV customers will have the chance to exchange their now-redundant decoders for newer versions as pay-TV is rolled out across the country.
According to Mohamed Jeneby, MD of Wananchi Satellite Limited, Zuku TV will be changing its GTV decoders when it officially launches its pay service in August 2011.
“We are going to replace the GTV decoders with ours. The owners will only pay ZUKU subscriptions for one month,” he said at a meeting with local journalists at the launch of the product.
GTV collapsed in 2009 due to financial uncertainty and handed over about 50 000 customers in Uganda.
Wananchi hopes the new pay-TV structure will revive more than 50 000 former GTV customers.
Wananchi Group CEO Richard Bell says that the company has already invested nearly $170 million in satellite and fibre optics infrastructure in order to provide pay service in East Africa.
“The company will start marketing its products and services this week, following a distribution agreement it signed with Simba Telecom on Friday,” says Bell.
Andrew Matapare
