Showmax partners with SEACOM in East Africa

Showmax and SEACOM have entered into an agreement that will benefit both consumers and ISPs in East Africa.

23 January 2016

Showmax has partnered with SEACOM, a major pan-African data service provider and the first company to launch broadband submarine cables along Africa’s eastern and southern coastlines.
The agreement provides for SEACOM to host Showmax caching servers in Nairobi, allowing for peering to take place with local internet service providers (ISPs).

Explaining what this means for subscribers, Showmax Head of Distribution Mike Raath said:

“The net effect of placing caching servers in Nairobi is that customers can pull video content from much closer to home, which means faster response time and less buffering. This move also lays the groundwork for further expansion in East Africa as we continue to rollout Showmax in new countries.”

In addition to delivering an improved customer experience, this agreement also brings benefits to local ISPs in the form of lower costs. Explaining this, Raath said:

“By peering with local ISPs, they’ll now be able to get Showmax content directly rather than having to pay transit costs from servers based thousands of kilometres away. This is yet another way we’re working to make sure that Showmax is the internet TV service listening to the needs of consumers and partners in Africa.”

For more information on peering with Showmax in Nairobi, interested parties should contact peering@seacom.mu.