Kenya’s television industry is set to get an additional video on-demand player from Liquid Telecom in early 2014.

Top executives from the Liquid Telecom company have revealed to ITWeb Africa that testing for its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service ‘Ipidi’ is on course to launch in Nairobi, Kenya.

Shahab Meshki, group head for customer account and service management in Liquid Telecom, said that they expect it to go live in the first quarter of 2014.

Existing video on-demand players in Kenya includes the likes of freely available Buni TV, but subscription-based services have not hit the market yet.

Other players looking to launch in the on-demand subscription space in Kenya include Able Wireless. But it is experiencing government hurdles regarding its launch.

“It is going to be a similar triple play service (TV, Voice, Internet) as you have in Kenya,” Meshki said.

“The sourcing for content is already done.”

Meshki said that the company plans to offer free-to-air channels before diving into premium service.

“We are looking to partner with DStv to offer some premium channels for Ipidi,” Meshki said.

DStv is part of MultiChoice, which is Africa biggest satellite TV pay service.

Also, Liquid Telecom officials say Ipidi is aslo to be also rolled out in Harare in Zimbabwe, through local internet service company, Zimbabwe Online (ZoL).

In Harare, the project is expected to take off owing to developments the company has made to make FTTH (fibre to the home) a success.

Zuku, which is owned by Wananchi Online, has dominated the triple play service space in Kenya and is set to face competition with Liquid Telecom.

The company also hopes to make the service available on white label so that other ISPs can come in and easily integrate the service with their offerings.