by Thinus Ferreira
Telkom is offloading its video streaming service TelkomONE two years after it launched, to the South African public broadcaster which will be taking it over from Thursday and rebrand it as its own SABC+ streamer.
Telkom's video streaming service TelkomONE abruptly went offline on Wednesday without any prior warning, saying it will make "an exciting service announcement".
An on-screen message on the TelkomONE website only reads: "Your TelkomONE entertainment service will be temporarily unavailable from midnight on 15 November to Thursday 17 November 2022. We apologise for the service interruption".
The website says TelkomONE will be making an "exciting service announcement".
The TelkomONE service downtime comes almost two years after Telkom launched its video streaming service in November 2020, offering both a free and subscription service, with linear TV channels being streamed including global TV news channels and the SABC's terrestrial TV channels, including a catalogue of on-demand content from the SABC and international content providers.
Telkom sent a SMS to TelkomONE subscribers on Wednesday, saying "Thank you for your loyalty. TelkomONE content will be migrated to the new and exciting SABC+ entertainment platform. Visit www.sabcplus.com".
Telkom told TVwithThinus on Wednesday that TelkomONE has been given to the SABC which will manage it as its SABC+ streamer after undergoing a rebrand.
"Telkom and the SABC have had a successful partnership since the launch of TelkomONE in late 2020. The platform has now matured and is ready to scale under the management of the SABC's broadcasting expertise," Gugu Mthembu, Telkom CMO, told TVwithThinus.
"Their expertise in sourcing and curating relevant content will enrich the current content library for existing and new customers."
The SABC will take over all of TelkomONE's existing customer base. TelkomONE subscribers will be notified and transferred to the new SABC platform when it launches.
"We will continue to evolve to our digital lifestyle provider ambition through our investments in areas such as content, fintech, gaming and IoT by partnering with strategic partners to deliver products and services that create a better life for our customers."
Paying TelkomONE subscribers of its TelkomONE Amp service will automatically have access to SABC+ at no additional cost.
TelkomONE competed in a constantly getting more crowded over-the-top (OTT) space with the South African public broadcaster that wants to launch SABC+ before the end of this year.
Besides TelkomONE South African consumers already have access to streaming services including Netflix SA, MultiChoice's video streamer Showmax, eMedia's eVOD, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, BritBox SA, Acorn TV, VIU, TruthTV, WOW Presents Plus and MarqueeTV.
NBCUniversal's Peacock isn't available yet. Warner Bros. Discovery is still to announce a new name for its combined HBO Max and discovery+ streamer and when it will launch in South Africa. Paramount will likely launch its Paramount+ in South Africa sometime during 2023.
