Wananchi to launch triple-play service

Wananchi Online has invested in a new 9-meter satellite dish in an effort to roll out its triple-play product line to 100,000 homes by March 2009.

Wananchi, one of Kenya's leading ISPs (Internet service providers), currently serves 40,000 homes. The company expects that number to reach up to 250,000 by March 2010, said Wananchi Chief Operating Officer Suhayl Esmailjee.

Through a combination of services, Kenyans will access quality voice, Internet and broadcast content. The broadcast content will be available through the recently acquired Mitsumi Cable TV, Esmailjee explained.

"Mitsumi previously provided TV content for the Asian community in Kenya; we have expanded the content to include other market segments," he said.

"We have signed an agreement with GTV to air their content through our cable network, including the live English Premier League football matches, which has a wide audience in Kenya."

Mitsumi cable is a one-way broadcast service, but Wananchi will upgrade the service to make it two-way, allowing it to support broadband Internet and voice on the same platform, Esmailjee said.

"The TV content will be available through the Internet Protocol, as well as through HFC network," he said. "Some areas will have IPTV because it can be carried over long distances without re-transmission and favors sparsely populated areas. Other areas will have HFC, which is ideal for densely populated areas. The two have the same quality but use different equipment."

The 9-meter dish will provide ample bandwidth, up to 155M bps (bits per second), to support provision of true broadband that can provide quality voice and data services to homes.

The voice platform will offer conferencing at affordable rates, allowing users to receive calls and route them to different phone services, such as soft phone, which will be facilitated by a switch at the Wananchi offices.

According to a new report titled "African Broadband, Triple Play and Converged Markets," convergence has led to innovation and increased content in the telecoms industry, and growing Internet traffic has led to high demand of other services that rely on bandwidth.

While the report identifies triple play as the power behind the next stage of growth, Esmailjee said Wananchi will offer bundled services that will reduce the overall cost of using voice, data and broadcast services.

Wananchi has grown from a local ISP to a major regional telecoms player following the establishment of the African Telecoms, Media and Technology Fund. The group plans to invest in seven African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Malawi.