London, UK – Tuesday 3rd April, 2018 – Massive and Evergent, with Google Cloud, have today announced a collaboration to create a solution that will enable telcos to offer competitive “a-la-carte” content bundles to subscribers. It’s in response to heightened cord-cutting practices as a result of increasing demand from consumers for more control over what they are paying for, which has put the pressure on operators to modernise their offerings or risk a sustained loss in revenues.
Built on Google Cloud, the new platform will be used by operators to rapidly roll out new packages through OTT delivery as a managed service. It will then give their customers the flexibility to hand-pick their own ‘skinny bundle’ of channels for a fixed fee, with the option to change their selection every month based on their preferences. Operators can use the platform to create themed bundles on the fly (i.e. a World Cup sports package) and promote them to customers for immediate access.
The collaboration also comes in response to the complexity and expense associated with maintaining legacy, on-premise video delivery, billing, and user management systems, which reduce profit margins and restrict the ability of telcos to compete in regional video markets. Recognising this situation, Massive and Evergent’s platform will empower operators to take real-time control, run operations more efficiently, and generate additional revenue.
Through the new platform, operators will have the ability to monetise their service in real-time. This will include the capability to:
- Create new revenue through the placement of video and display advertising, powered by Google’s DoubleClick for Publishers.
- In-experience app revenue share. Offer subscriptions, transactions, rentals.
- Data-driven promotions tailored to a viewer’s interests.
The mobile-centric nature of the joint solution means that it will be optimised for video consumption over 4G and 5G networks, removing the need for telcos to rely on traditional, fiber-focused means of IP delivery and opening up significant headroom to rapidly capture more significant market share. As a result, their customers will be able to consume high-quality video wherever they are, as telcos harness the capability to deliver real-time UI changes to promote their ever-changing schedule.
Operator OTT content bundles will be delivered through Google Cloud’s scalable offerings, end-to-end video processing and management services. Real-time UI and content personalisation will be handled by Massive’s AXIS platform, while Evergent’s user lifecycle management technology will manage customer authentication, promotions, and scheduling capabilities. As a managed service, operators can be up and running with a fully customisable OTT service in under 100 days.
Alex Drosin, Chief Commercial Officer at Massive Interactive, said:
“Customers aren’t turned off by the concept of pay-TV packages, but they do resent having to pay for channels that they don’t watch. The continued drop-off of subscribers who are looking to take control of their viewing experience requires a step-change in the industry, and therefore highly personalized, targeted bundles is the future of TV. That’s why this new streamlined approach is so important for operators looking to future-proof their business and usher in a new era of paid television.”
Vijay Sajja, Evergent Founder and CEO, said:
“Telcos are under increasing pressure to launch new revenue streams quickly, and video is being viewed as a killer app. The ever-changing video services market requires faster time to market, agility and flexibility to rapidly make changes based on market feedback. We are very excited about this new solution because it provides a compelling way for telecom customers to quickly experiment with various monetization models.
“For example, they can start monetizing by using advertising (AVOD) to expand their user base and later layer-in other monetization models such as a-la-carte LIVE linear skinny bundles, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) and transactional video-on-demand (TVOD).”
