Glo recently announced Glo Total Entertainment, their first foray into the on-demand internet media distribution space. With this, Glo finally joins the Nigerian telco over-the-top content delivery race. Never mind that they are the last.
Glo Total Entertainment is a mobile app that is supposed to give Glo subscribers access to a variety of video content, including sports, movie trailers, comedy, celebrity gossip, TV series and music videos.
The app is apparently available on all major smartphone platforms but you won’t find it any of the app stores. Intending users have to to subscribe by sending “sub” to 9999, then they receive a link to download the app. Subscription to Glo Total Entertainment costs N25 a week or N100 a month. Your subscription allows you access to download content from its library. However, normal data charges still apply. That’s an oddity, a potential deal breaker, at least by recent standards.
MTN Dobox, Etisalat Dobox , Airtel’s N5 Entertainment Store and, just recently MTN Music+. All these are on-demand streaming services that operate a zero-rated internet model. That is, while users pay rental and access charges for the actual content, they don’t incur data charges for downloading the content. Glo Total Entertainment is different. Users pay a subscription to access content but still have to incur data charges for downloads
I’m not sure what Glo is trying to achieve here with this offering, considering that potential subscribers do not have enough incentive (zero rated streaming) to use it. Perhaps it’s an attempt to strike a balance between pricing and quality of service. Maybe by not waiving streaming charges, Glo is looking to keep the subscriber base to a manageable size they can afford to serve well. I probably speak for a lot of users when I say I would rather pay a little extra if I am assured of better quality of service, than not pay at all but the service is crap.
Just to be clear, I’m not insinuating that zero-rated services from other telcos are terrible. I’m just wondering aloud if Glo’s decision not to go the zero-rated internet path is in the best interest of the consumer. I wouldn’t want to come to any conclusions until I actually try out the service myself.
Has anyone tried Glo Total Entertainment yet? Please let us know about your experience.
