Etisalat – one of the largest telecommunications companies in the Middle East and North Africa – has collaborated with Synamedia and 3SS to power its new UAE-based streaming service, SwitchTV. The service – which recently launched – uses Synamedia’s cloud TV platform, Infinite.
By leveraging Infinite for its OTT service, Etisalat can “process, secure, distribute and monetise video to all consumer devices” with the choice to offer SwitchTV subscription packages alongside other movie rental models. The cloud DVR solution provided by Synamedia gives viewers the ability to record programs and watch them later any device they choose.
Etisalat is also leveraging the TV software specialists’ end-to-end video network portfolio. Synamedia has said that this will reduce latency for the service at every stage of the video workflow, while minimising the bandwidth requirements, giving users a “highly reliable, consistently high-quality viewing experience with no interruptions or buffering.”
Jean-Francois Pigeon, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Synamedia, said: “Switch TV has been a game-changer for viewers across the UAE region. A contributing factor to this success is that Etisalat has taken advantage of our technology’s flexibility to add new devices, features and business models, all underpinned by data analytics. Working with 3SS, we have ensured that the smart TV and Apple TV apps for Switch TV feature the same high-end user experience as on STBs as well as the high levels of security Etisalat requires.”
Synamedia collaborated with 3SS on developing the OTT video platform, integrating the latter’s front-end solution to support the Smart TV app’s UX with both left and right navigation, to accommodate Arabic and Asian languages, in addition to English.
Kai-Christian Borchers, 3SS Managing Director said: “Smart TV platforms are becoming increasingly important for operators to complement their next-gen STB; it is vital for any successful brand that the user experience on both be seamless, high-quality and unified. We are very proud to support Etisalat, and to continue to collaborate with Synamedia to deliver advanced experiences to more and more smart TV viewers.”
Jonathan Haysom, VP of Commercial Products at Etisalat, commented: “Since the launch of Switch TV in 2020, we have continued to enhance the service with new functionality and a choice of service levels to suit different budgets. We saw an opportunity to launch apps on smart TVs and Apple TV when choosing Synamedia and 3SS as our deployment partners because their expertise in this field is second to none.”
SwitchTV has now launched in the UAE, with different subscription tiers (including a free version). The service features a library of content from providers including BBC, MBC, Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures.
