Ericsson has partnered with Airtel Nigeria to roll out the end-to-end subscription Video on Demand (VoD) service in the West African country.

The partners have confirmed that the service will be available in early 2016 and initially to subscribers on the Airtel network.

For a yet-to-be named fee, individuals that subscribe to NuVu will be able to access about 3 000 local and foreign TV and movies. The new service, they said, is expected to be improved upon – and expanded to cover more genres and categories. Users of the service will also able be able to directly download the contents onto their gadgets without incurring additional data cost during the network's off-peak times; they would also enjoy access for 30 days after downloading such contents.

"At present, downloading is preferred to streaming due to connectivity issues. We believe there is a huge opportunity to open up a window to a world of content through mobile devices that may not be easily accessed otherwise. Airtel is the perfect partner to help us launch NuVu as one of the largest operators across Africa and the third-largest mobile operator in the world. We are very proud to launch NuVu in Africa and we look forward to rolling out this service to other markets over the coming year", said Thorsten Sauer, the head of Broadcast and Media Services at Ericsson.

Ericsson revealed that they will be starting with the launch of an app for the service – starting with one for users of Android-powered devices. Unique features of the app include personalised user interface, bookmarking and personal recommendations.

Apps for other operating systems are expected to be rolled out subsequently.

Ericsson unveiled the service during the AfricaCom event held recently in Cape Town, South Africa where NuVu's MD Niclas Ekdahl describing the offering as one that is built and tailored for Africa.

The service is expected to raise already high levels of competition amongst OTT service providers, particularly with regard to VoD.