Econet Wireless has issued a public notice on the termination of the Kwese TV Satellite service. The notice is a formalisation of a service that was in effect shut down in November 2018 when customers could no longer watch subscription content, which was pulled immediately.
Also, in July the company announced that Kwese was being put under administration in the country.
Said today’s notice:
PUBLIC NOTICE
Termination of Kwese TV Satellite Service
To our Valued Customers
We regret to announce the discontinuation of the Kwese TV Satellite Service with effect from August 5, 2019.
The service was offered to our customers by our sister company Econet Media.We regret to end this service, which thousands of Zimbabweans had embraced and welcomed into their homes and offices as a viable, alternative source of news, sport and entertainment.
The third party content providers, on whose content we rely, require payment in foreign currency. With the prevailing economic conditions in Zimbabwe, and the current business operating environment – characterized by an acute shortage of foreign currency – sustaining Kwese and the Kwese Satellite Service service was no longer viable.
Customers that had subscribed to the service in advance can redeem their credits by dialling *119#
Once again we apologize for ending this service and take this opportunity to thank our customers for their valued support.
Sincerely
Douglas Mboweni
Group CEO
When it was still in operation, Kwese was criticised for over-spending money on content like European football and US basketball instead of investing in original content in Africa. The satellite TV space in Southern Africa is dominated by Multichoice which is owned by Naspers.