New Acquisition for PCCW Bolsters OTT Video Business

HONG KONG: PCCW Media has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Vuclip, a mobile VOD service platform that currently operates in six countries.

Vuclip currently reaches more than 7 million mobile subscribers per quarter. Its footprint across Asia includes India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, with rollout plans for other Southeast Asian markets later this year. Vuclip's services are also available outside Asia in Egypt, and will expand to other countries in Africa and the Middle East. The current catalogue houses more than 1 million titles, including Bollywood and Hollywood movies, TV shows, entertainment and sports news, music videos and more. Offerings are presented in 25 different languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Indonesian Bahasa, Arabic, Malay and Thai.

The acquisition marks an expansion of PCCW's digital video business beyond Hong Kong and follows on the development of its local OTT services, including MOOV music and now TV news, sports and entertainment apps. With this investment, PCCW Media can accelerate its strategy in rolling out its OTT video service in the region and further afield.

Janice Lee, the managing director of PCCW Media, said, “Our vision is to expand beyond Hong Kong by offering industry-leading OTT services. Together, Vuclip and PCCW Media will develop a best-of-breed OTT platform that provides immediate access to PCCW Media’s premium Asian content set (including Korean, Japanese, and Chinese language content) across a much expanded audience base in the Asian continent and other regions. The integrated billing solution that Vuclip has developed with its telecom partners in various markets will enable us to fast track our OTT video and music penetration globally.”

Dr. Nickhil Jakatdar, the founder and CEO of Vuclip, said, “As a leader in mobile video for emerging markets, we have always strived to meet the needs of our users with a combination of our innovative technology and a strong partner ecosystem comprised of content studios, mobile operators and advertisers. With the synergies between PCCW Media and Vuclip, we can now serve the emerging markets better and accelerate our global expansion.”