TopTV, at the South African pay TV operator's first programming press preview held in Cape Town, told journalists and TV critics that TopTV's offer of full free installation when a new subscriber buys a TopTV set-top box (STB) will remain.
"It's our special thing," said Heather Kennedy, TopTV's vice president for marketing to the room of journalists after asked whether the free installation deal - which completely revolutionised the consumer-end of pay TV uptake in South Africa and removed the biggest hurdle to getting a pay TV service - will continue.
Expensive pay TV installation fees which include hardware such as cable and a satellite dish as well as manual labour is a big hurdle to pay TV uptake because of the big once-off cost which households - also in South Africa - struggle to afford.
Unlike DStv, TopTV subsidises the entire installation costs running to over a R1 000 and more per subscriber, and says it will continue to do so.
"You can't start something - offer something - and then take it away. We make it easy for people who have never had pay TV before to get TopTV. We have a recommended retail price for the box [which comes with a free installation voucher] but different retail outlets have various specials all the time with even lower prices. It makes TopTV affordable and an attractive pay TV alternative," she said.
