by Thinus Ferreira
As a consumer test Netflix is rolling out a new R39 Netflix mobile-only plan in South Africa that is much cheaper than its cheapest R99 per month subscription fee and that the subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD) says will only last if enough South African viewers respond to it.
The Netflix Mobile plan at R39 per month in South Africa is now undercutting MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service, with Showmax Mobile that costs R49 per month.
In mid-2019 Netflix announced that it would roll out and test a "mobile device only" plan that launched in Indian in the third quarter of last year. The mobile only Netflix plan is priced significantly lower that Netflix's existing 3-tier plan structure but also limits users to streaming on mobile devices and with other imposed limitations like video quality as well.
South Africa - like India and African countries like Egypt where Netflix also tested its "mobile only" plan- is part of places where Netflix wants to test how many more users it could potentially sign up to use and sample its video service in markets where the penetration of mobile devices are high but data costs are still expensive and the availability of broadband internet is limited.
Netflix's R39 per month mobile-only plan limits the video stream to 480p and one viewing stream on a mobile device or tablet. Netflix's other three plans, Netflix Basic (R99), Netflix Standard (R139) and Netflix Premium (169) offer more options.
The streaming service has had the same 3 plans for over 5 years and Netflix says that in that time its membership base "has changed enormously - and mobile usage has increased significantly".
Netflix tells TVwithThinus that in keeping this mobile audience and people's device usage in mind, it is experimenting with new plans across the African continent - excluding Egypt where it was already tested - to give potential subscribers more choice.
Netflix however cautions that if it sees that users are not valuing these new plans that it won't be rolling it out more widely.
A Netflix spokesperson says that "We’ve had the same three plans for several years now and this test offer reflects significant usage of and preference for mobile in South Africa. We’ll only roll this out longer term if people value the increased flexibility".