Firm popularizes digital TV in Africa

When Star Times was founded in 1988 in Beijing, digital TV was barely known to most Chinese. Since then the company has been highly successful in popularizing the basic and value-added services of digital TV and managing broadcast networks. These days it offers a broad range of services, including technology support, hardware and content.

In 2005 the company's CEO, Pang Xinxing, arrived in Africa on a mission to seek investment opportunities. What he saw in this vast continent reminded him of China in the 1980s: The digital TV industry was dominated by European and US companies, it cost more than $100 to install and $100 a month to receive programs, making it affordable to only a few.

In all of this Pang saw an opportunity to expand Star Times to Africa, whose consumers were ripe for the picking, and where competition was less fierce than elsewhere.