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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
Local film producers have welcomed TelOne’s Digital Entertainment On Demand (DEOD) service which will give viewers unlimited access to content online, saying the onus was upon them to produce quality content.

DEOD, birthed by a partnership between TelOne and South Africa digital media company Discover Digital, was launched last Thursday evening in Bulawayo at Ster Kinekor movie house.

During the launch where business people and local celebrities were in attendance, TelOne head marketing and business development Maureen Mutsonziwa Chirambaguhwa said local content producers should take the opportunity of the platform as there will be a channel devoted towards local content.

“We as TelOne are very excited about this latest innovation and we’re calling on all local content producers to see our representatives. We are going to have a local content channel on this platform. There’re interesting business opportunities for local content producers and we’re all for promoting local content,” she said.

Welcoming the move, Kudzai Chikomo of Multimedia Box said DEOD had potential to stimulate more local content production.

“The pressure is now on producers to come up with quality content as users only pay for what they watch. It’s also a good opportunity to build audiences for local content. About six million people in Zimbabwe now have access to mobile internet. This presents a good opportunity as people are able to access movies on the go via their smart phones. I would also encourage TelOne DEOD to partner filmmakers in content production,” said Chikomo.

He said DEOD would solve the problems they have with regards to distribution of their content.

“DVDs are slowly becoming a thing of the past and are not safe because they can be easily copied or duplicated. It’s easier to gather demographics and market intelligence. This is key for us as filmmakers we can make informed decisions about what the people like to watch. It’s hard to get that data from vendors selling DVDs in the streets,” said Chikomo.

Priscilla Sithole of Bulawayo based film house Ibhayisikopo said this was an opportunity for women to tell their stories online.

“Women should also position themselves now to take advantage of such opportunities. We need to tell stories of women from a woman’s perspective,” said Sithole.

She added that the coming in of DEOD was long overdue and urged TelOne to pay them handsomely for their products.

“This has been long overdue and we need more players to sell our content. This is a welcome move which will benefit us and we hope TelOne will pay for the content from the providers,” said Sithole.

The pricing for access to DEOD is pegged at $11.99 per month for the premium package while the lowest being $1.50.

This gives one access to the latest drama, series, movies, sports and documentaries content online. But what is interesting is that this service is way cheaper than DStv.

Also no more payment hassles as EcoCash, Telecash, One Money and swipe are all accepted. For mobile phone users all they have to do is to download the DEOD app on AppStore or Google PlayStore.