by Thinus Ferreira
Vodacom is now offering existing and upgrading contract Vodacom customers 6 months of free access to Amazon Prime Video, which will thereafter be cheaper at R79.99 per month than the existing R95 per month it costs to subscribe to Amazon Prime Video directly.
Vodacom's announcement about the Amazon Prime Video tie-in offer comes on the same day that Telkom plans to launch its new TelkomONE streaming service today.
Vodacom already operates its own Vodacom Video Play video-on-demand (VOD) service.
After the 6 month free promotional period, Vodacom will charge customers R79.99 per month for an Amazon Prime Video subscription which will be added as a line-item to a customer's monthly invoice or airtime.
This R79.99 per month to watch Amazon Prime Video through Vodacom - besides the 6-month free trial period - is cheaper than the $5.99 or R95 per month that a customer will pay or is currently paying to sign up with Amazon Prime Video directly.
Vodacom has now jumped MultiChoice that also planned to offer DStv customers subscriptions to Netflix South Africa and Amazon Prime Video through a DStv Explora decoder, with the option to subscribe and unsubscribe monthly at will for access to these additional streaming services, and pay for it in rand, added to their DStv bill.
MultiChoice's plan to provide customers with third-party streaming services besides its own Showmax through an OTT carousel offer - likely also at a slightly cheaper price than going direct - has been hampered by an investigation of South Africa's Competition Commission that has forced MultiChoice to postpone its roll-out and further announcements about it.
Vodacom and Amazon Prime Video's launch offer is available to all existing and upgrading contract Vodacom customers, as well as to prepaid and top-up customers who have spent a minimum of R150 with Vodacom over the last 30 days.
These Vodacom users will be able to watch Amazon Prime Video series like The Boys, The Grand Tour, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Carnival Row or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan on up to 3 devices at the same time with the Amazon Prime Video app, or any compatible TV, smartphone or tablet.
"We continuously strive to partner with premium content providers to
deliver compelling propositions that keep customers connected for a better
future," says Jorge Mendes, Vodacom chief officer of consumer business.
"The introduction of this Amazon Prime Video offer for our customers underpins our commitment
to enabling a digital society."
Mariam Cassim, chief officer of Vodacom financial and digital lifestyle services, says that Vodacom "strives to work with like-minded partners around the globe to bring
innovative digital lifestyle services to South African consumers".
"We are excited to be
teaming up with Amazon Prime Video to bring about quality entertainment to our
customers."
