Zain, the leading digital service provider in Kuwait, today announced the launch of a unique subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, ‘PlayVOD’, in partnership with Digital Virgo, a France-based specialist in telecom payments, monetization and digital marketing. The new service offers Zain Kuwait’s 2.8 million customers access to a wide range of popular movies and TV series, mixing international and regional content.
PlayVOD is currently live in 12 countries and available in five languages, boasting a rich library of 3,000+ movies and TV series, including access to a wide range of movies and TV shows from MBC, one of the largest production houses in the region. Zain customers can subscribe to the premium VOD service using Direct Carrier Billing (DCB).
The inaugural launch of PlayVOD in Kuwait follows a company-wide agreement entered between Zain Group and Digital Virgo earlier this year to provide Zain’s 49 million customers across eight markets with access to Digital Virgo’s portfolio or premium mobile content and mobile entertainment partners.
The deal followed the system’s integration with Zain Group’s Application Program Interface (API) platform and the deployment of Direct Carrier Billing technology by the telco. PlayVOD is set to be rolled out to other Zain markets progressively in the near future via the Zain Group API Platform.
Modhey Al Sabah, Zain Kuwait’s Chief Government Affairs and Business Development Officer said: “The launch of PlayVOD in Kuwait is another example of Zain’s pioneering approach to delivering the most compelling user experiences as we transform to become a fully integrated digital lifestyle provider. Our Group-wide API program has made partnering with leading technology and over-the-top (OTT) content providers such as Digital Virgo much easier, with the result being services such as PlayVOD being brought to market much more quickly.”
Guillaume Briche, Digital Virgo CEO, commented, “The launch with Zain Kuwait illustrates how we intend to strengthen our international development, particularly in Africa and Middle East, teaming up with major telecom groups to increase our visibility within the digital ecosystem. In these regions, our positioning as an expert in payment, monetization and marketing is unique, and allows us to bring significant value to mobile operators and their end-users.”