How Chinese app helped Kenyans watch World Cup

NAIROBI - StarTimes, the Chinese digital television service provider, has revolutionized live streaming in Kenya by broadcasting the 2018 FIFA World Cup matches from Russia via a mobile phone app.

The StarTimes App was tweaked and customized for the World Cup. It helped Kenyan soccer lovers watch their favorite teams in action on their smartphones at an affordable cost.

Ann Njeri, a quality analyst and team leader of customer care department at StarTimes in Kenya, said soccer lovers relished watching the live streaming on the app.

"The StarTimes app has been in existence for sometime but an updated version was launched in early June to enable Kenyans watch the World Cup matches at their convenience," said Njeri.

"It was possible for anybody with a smartphone to watch a match while traveling and this is an exciting development for soccer lovers in this country," she said.

The StarTimes app was first launched in the market in October 2014. It is now available in 45 African countries, including Kenya.

It can be downloaded from Google or App Store, anchored on all smartphone platforms like Android, iOS; and users can access more than 60 channels on sports, entertainment, news and business.

In Kenya, the StarTimes app has struck a chord with soccer lovers as they did not require a television station to watch any World Cup match.

Njeri said affordability and quality have become the defining features of the StarTimes App that has animated Kenyan soccer lovers of all stripes.

"The services were very affordable and the App was not limited to registered StarTimes subscribers only but was and is open to all. With as little as 0.3 dollars, users were able to watch all matches in one day and for 2.4 dollars, they were able to watch all the matches for one month," said Njeri.

Kenyan soccer lovers admitted that the StarTimes app has been a game changer during the World Cup season.

"I have the latest version of StarTimes App and it has served me well and more importantly, I have been able to livestream World Cup matches without any hitch," said Innocent Bahati, a Nairobi-based entrepreneur.

Joseph Ayal, a college student said the StarTimes App had enabled him to watch the repeat matches since the live ones were usually played when he was attending lectures.

"As a student, I am in the class most of the time and found it convenient to watch the repeat World Cup matches via the StarTimes app," said Ayal.