Ericsson has announced a new platform for Video on Demand (VoD) for Africa, called NuVu that will compete for a share of the growing mobile streaming market.

During the AfricaCom event in Cape Town South Africa, Ericsson said that they will avail this platform to service providers across the continent who will then pass it on to their consumers.

"It is a first for Ericsson – investing in content and doing full end-to-end video on demand solution," said Niclas Ekdahl, Managing Director of Nuvu.

"This service is built and tailored for the African market," he added. Users will be able to download and stream up to 3,000 content items including Hollywood and local movies and series for a low fee.

Ericsson's recommended retail price is US$5 per month and content specific subscription of US$2 per month.

According to Ericsson, the NuVu product will allow customers to engage offline scheduling that downloads users content at off-peak hours.

NuVu has been introduced soon after the recent launch of Liquid Telecom's Ipidi in Rwanda. The Ipidi platform allows users to watch premium content under a monthly subscription plan.

Ipidi is already in Zimbabwe and it is due to launch in Kenya by the end of the year.

Other OTT players, such as Safaricom's The BigBox, are also set to relaunch in the market by offering better services.

During Safaricom half-year results announcement in October, CEO Bob Collymore said that they had experienced a few challenges with BigBox, the company's offering into the television, VoD and home broadband markets. Collymore said the company expects to perfect the solution as they learn the market.

Ericsson will launch first in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2016 in collaboration with Airtel and avail the service to 30 million subscribers.