Gadgets fanatics and mobile phone users across the country should be on the look out for a revamped Mascom MyPlay – a video streaming service.
The platform, owned and serviced by local mobile telecommunications company – Mascom Wireless is expected to tap into the growing market of digital content with its diverse service features set to be available 24/7. Mascom MyPlay which is available via web and apps that are compatible with mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes and smart TV’s is a Video on Demand Platform for both prepaid and post-paid digital service Mascom subscribers. Emphasis is specifically placed on data users.
Mascom Chief Communications & Public Relations Officer Tebogo Lebotse-Sebego said this week that the company is currently in the process of re-launching the MyPlay Platform. As part of the revamp, Lebotse-Sebego said that the MyPlay will now be offered with varied local, regional and international content.
Locally there have been concerns that government has been struggling, to utilize Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) facilities for revenue-based television. However, the recent investments in ICT facilities has helped inspire confidence amongst stakeholders and consumers, in development of local streaming platforms and software programs or app to be more practical and less theoretical.
In sourcing content for the platform, Lebotse-Sebego explained that they had an initiative called, “Finding Botswana Diamonds”, a competition aimed at soliciting local content.
She said “Towards the end of 2020, we launched the ‘Finding Botswana Diamonds’ Competition which was aimed at soliciting Botswana content. The winning Content Producer was announced in November 2020. The content submitted towards the Finding Botswana Diamond competition was adjudicated by a panel of judges that included local and international subject matter experts.”
Lebotse-Sebego said “from a regional and international perspective, to source content, for MyPlay, we are working with a third-party content aggregator who facilitates provision of the best and latest content available in the market. Through our aggregator partners we have ensured that the necessary licensing frameworks are in place.”
Furthermore, Mascom used the competition to get more insight into the state of local content as part of its continued efforts to grow the sector.
Lebotse-Sebego said” the Finding Botswana’s diamonds competition was the first step in the process of the relaunch to ensure that we have relevant and appealing local content in the revamped MyPlay service. Through the Finding Botswana diamonds competition, we have identified local content which will be on the platform at re-launch and the initiative will be on-going to ensure we re-invest into the growth of the local industry.”
While entertainment content is enjoyed in video and audio formats, Lebotse-Sebego explained why they opted for a video streaming service.
She said “the platform we opted for MyPlay is guided by current global trends that indicate a growing consumer demand for video content they can watch at their convenience, which is in line with the emergence of platforms such as Netflix, Disney + and a whole host of others”
