New Vision, MTN-Uganda in game changing E-PAPER partnership

Vision Group newspaper readers are set to enjoy a new experience following a partnership between the media company and telecom giant, MTN.

The partnership was sealed through a virtual signing of a memorandum of understanding between Vision Group's Chief Executive Officer/managing director, Robert Kabushenga and his MTN-Uganda counterpart, Wim Vanhelleputte.

This is set to usher in a new era of accessing news in Uganda, which will see Vision Group newspaper readers access e-Vision content, an electronic version of the three Vision Group newspapers (The New Vision, Bukedde and Kampala Sun) and pay using mobile money.

Unlike the sh2,000 hardcopy cover price, e-Vision content readers will only pay sh1,000 a day to access all the three newspapers, according to Kabushenga.

While Vision Group has been providing free access to its e-papers since April this year to enable Ugandans to get used to accessing newspapers digitally, Kabushenga said the free access will end on August 31.

Readers will thus be required to pay for access, effective September 1.

Kabushenga said: "I am happy that we have got to this point to be able to serve our customers in a manner that we are going to. "It became obvious to us towards the end of last year that we need to move and improve our service and customer experience to reading the e-paper.

This was even made more urgent by the COVID-19 pandemic, where customers were only accessing us online because of the stay-at-home measures," he added. Kabushenga noted that during the five-month free e-paper access, about 20,000 people signed up to consume the digital version of the paper, which he said is an indication that people are ready for the shift.

He said the partnership is expected to change Uganda's media industry. "This partnership between the biggest media house and the biggest telecom company in the country will definitely drive the media industry in a direction people have never thought about," Kabushenga said. He added: "This will offer a much better user experience to readers. This is something that has never been done in Uganda."

WE WILL WALK WITH YOU 

Vanhelleputte commended Vision Group for taking the industry lead in this direction, noting that embracing digital is inevitable for all companies in this era. He pledged to accompany Vision Group on this new digital journey.

"You need to embrace technology and look at the opportunities that it presents. Going digital for a newspaper is absolutely the right thing to do and we are excited that we have partnered with you to bring onboard more people onto the New Vision e-paper experience," he said. With this, Vanhelleputte said Vision Group will reach a wider audience, including people in the diaspora.

He challenged Vision Group to work towards completely phasing out the physical newspaper. "I am looking forward to the course of 2021 when we will come to your office and print the last physical newspaper copy and you totally embrace digital. Printing is not eco-friendly and we need to move away from it.

These things look far-fetched now, but who would have imagined that five months ago, you (Vision Group) would have 20,000 subscribers for the e-paper," he asked. Vanhelleputte pledged to ensure high-quality network availability across the country for good customer experience.

THE BENEFITS

Unlike the previous e-paper access, where readers had a data challenge, MTN customers who pay for e-paper using mobile money will not incur any data costs to download the content, apart from the sh1,000 for the paper. Additionally, the sh1,000 will be paid via Momopay at no extra charges.

The e-Vision products can be accessed on a smartphone and desktop in all formats, including text, audio and video. According to Kabushenga, e-Vision will always be ready by midnight to enable people to read the next day's news before going to bed.

To pay for e-Vision, one is required to visit the New Vision online portal, click subscribe and then choose whether they prefer daily weekly or monthly subscription. An option of Momopay then pops up and one approves payment by entering a PIN code.