Airtel Launches ‘Airtel IQ Video’ – A CPaaS Solution To Democratize Video Streaming In India

* Airtel IQ Video allows entertainment companies and broadcasters to offer OTT video services with minimal investment by leveraging Airtel’s cutting edge and secure video cloud platform Will enable more companies to participate in India’s digital entertainment economy and bring quality content to the mainstream 

* Raj TV and Eros Now amongst early customers in India. CG Telecom of Nepal also using the platform. 

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s premier communication solutions provider, today announced the launch of its Video Platform as a Service (CPaaS)  – ‘Airtel IQ Video’. The solution has been developed by Airtel’s in-house engineering teams.

By leveraging Airtel’s resilient cloud, and cutting edge video technologies, Airtel IQ Video allows businesses to build world-class video streaming products for large and small screens with minimal investment in infrastructure and technology. Airtel IQ Video is an end-to-end managed solution that brings convenience along with cost benefits. It encompasses a variety of features ranging from app development, content hosting, curation and lifecycle management to search and discovery, analytics and monetisation models (advertising, subscriptions, transactions).

Take the example of Raj TV, who have used Airtel IQ Video to take the OTT route to serve increasingly digitally savvy consumers. Says M Raajhendhran, Managing Director at Raj Television Network “We had a content library of over 30,000 hours with some of the best Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. But most of this content was on tapes/analog formats and audiences also want to access these through OTT. Using Airtel IQ Video, we have been able to digitize our content, host it on Airtel’s cloud platforms and offer it to audiences both in India and across the global through our own OTT app. Importantly, we have been able to achieve this at the fraction of the cost in very quick time with access to the best technology that has ensured the user experience is excellent. We look forward to deeping our relationship with Airtel.”  

According to RBSA Advisors, India's video OTT market is expected to touch USD 12.5 billion by 2030, from USD 1.5 billion, currently. The report also highlighted that the next wave of growth in the OTT landscape will come from tier II, III and IV cities and regional languages at the centre of this growth story.  Keeping these changing trends in sight, existing regional OTTs are looking to scale their technology platforms to accommodate the rising number of users. Traditional content providers such as regional TV broadcasters are looking to digitize their content libraries through OTT applications.

Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel said: “Airtel IQ Video brings an easy-to-use platform that can enable anyone to quickly build and scale their business in video streaming. This will encourage enterprises to focus on content while Airtel IQ Video anchors the end-to-end technology ensuring a great viewing experience for customers. With Airtel IQ Video, we expect to see more content startups and traditional content companies coming online and directly engaging with consumers digitally.”

During the beta phase, Airtel IQ Video has also been deployed by Eros Now and CG Telecom of Nepal. Airtel is expecting to onboard 50+ brands on the platform in coming year as interest from market has been high.

Niravana Chaudhary, Managing Director, CG Group shares, “We have aspirations to launch a cutting edge IPTV and Video OTT platform as part of our telco offering in Nepal. Airtel’s proven execution in video based offerings with Airtel Xstream and keen understanding of a telecom company paved the way for our partnership. Airtel IQ Video will power both our Video OTT app and IPTV, bringing seamless streaming to our customers in Nepal on devices of their choice.”

Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now, says, “We have cherished our partnership with Airtel over the years and are now excited about our technology collaboration. Their robust infrastructure and extensive network coverage has been helping us deliver blockbuster content seamlessly to the end consumers. Airtel’s latest ‘Airtel IQ Video’ platform is an innovative offering that is built to scale and can assist Eros Now in reinforcing its value proposition to the rapidly expanding video subscriber base.”

Airtel IQ, a cloud-based omni-channel communications platform, enables brands to deepen engagement with customers through timely and secure communication. Airtel IQ eliminates the need for multiple communication platforms for different channels. With just a slice of code, businesses can embed communication services such as Voice, SMS, IVR, Video in their applications and digital properties across desktop and mobile, all through a unified platform. For more details visit www.airtel.in/iq

About Airtel

Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 474 Mn customers in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India’s largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel’s retail portfolio includes high speed 4G/4.5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1 Gbps with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, streaming services spanning music and video, digital payments and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that includes secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT, Ad Tech and cloud based communication. For more details visit www.airtel.com