There is no more MTN VU or FrontRow.
MTN, South Africa’s second biggest mobile phone operator, is shutting down its video on demand (VOD) service, MTN VU signalling a failure to retain and entice customers.
VU, previously known as MTN FrontRow, is VoD service that offers TV series, music and movies to stream through your smart devices.
On 1 December 2015, MTN FrontRow was rebranded into VU and pronounced “View You”.
MTN VU was launched in December 2014.
The platform also slashed prices to retain and entice new customers. Data consumed while streaming VU was also zero-rated on the MTN network.
“We regret to inform you that we’ll soon be saying farewell to MTN VU, which will be shutting down on 3 May 2017,” MTN informed customers via email.
MTN thanked customers for enjoying some of the world’s best entertainment with the VOD platform.
MTN’s VU website, at the time of writing, is still online with no notice informing customers that it will be shut down.
MTN’s VU is not the first VOD service to demise in South Africa.
Vidi, a Times Media Group-owned VoD platform, was shut down in February 2016.
Its closure came after a series of VOD launches in South Africa and closure of Altech Node business in October 2015.
The performance of the Altech Node, which is owned by Altron’s TMT division and launched September 2014, has not quite gone as planned for the market.
Africa’s biggest tech firm Naspers launched ShowMax in August 2015.While ONTAPtv, which is owned by Hong Kong’s PCCW, launched its service in September 2015.Thereafter, Netflix brought its services to South Africa.
For more read: MTN must let go of VoD service VU
