ANYTIME to supply broadband provider with Hollywood
content for India’s first IPTV platform
Singapore, October 26,
2006 – ANYTIME, Asia Pacific’s leading Video on-Demand channel, has signed
a five-year distribution agreement with India’s largest broadband
provider, India On Line Broadband Limited (IOL). Four million homes in
Mumbai and Delhi will have access to ANYTIME VoD movie channel and
interactive games channels by March 2007.
The ANYTIME VoD movie
channel will be the exclusive provider of Hollywood VoD programming and
will form the cornerstone of the MTNL-IOL and BSNL-IOL IPTV platforms,
supported by Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MNTL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam
Limited’s (BSNL) respectively.
The ANYTIME channel is expected to
go live in December this year, making a wide range of Hollywood
blockbusters - both new releases and library titles – and interactive
games, available on-Demand. It will introduce a new level of choice,
control and convenience in entertainment to India.
“This is an
unprecedented deal for IPTV in the region,” said ANYTIME CEO Craig
Zimbulis. “On-Demand delivery of video content is set to boom in India,
this is a country that clearly has a huge appetite for next generation
services. Working together, IOL, MTNL, BSNL and ANYTIME will be able to
offer Indian consumers an entirely new way to choose and consume Hollywood
entertainment.”
Zimbulis added, “Singapore’s transparent media
regulatory framework and its abundant supply of skilled industry
professionals have given ANYTIME a great home and assisted ANYTIME in
realising our pan-Asia Pacific growth plans and ambitions.”
Dr
Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer, Media Development Authority of
Singapore (MDA), congratulated ANYTIME on its VOD carriage deal with India
On Line. He said, “In line with MDA’s Media 21 blueprint to transform
Singapore into a global media city, MDA encourages and supports companies
like ANYTIME to tap on Singapore’s strengths as a media hub to develop new
digital media services and market them to other countries that Singapore
has good broadband connectivity with. We welcome innovative business
proposals from industry players that can offer diverse content for
everyone, from Singapore to the region.” |
IOL has a fully integrated
backbone network delivering broadband Internet access in India. The
ANYTIME channel will run over the company’s own fiber metro ethernet
network as well as the fixed-line ADSL networks of BSNL and
MNTL.
Director of IOL, A.S.Oberai, said: “We’re very excited to
have ANYTIME on board. Having the best of Hollywood content and making it
available on-Demand is a winning combination for us and the realisation of
our subscriber growth plans. ANYTIME’s games channels also improve the
breadth of our IPTV offering and we look forward to working closely with
ANYTIME to further develop our interactive content
strategy.”
Besides ANYTIME content, IOL has also acquired rights to
nearly 1,000 local Indian films, and will offer music, news, sports, and
other content as part of its VoD service. The initial launch will be in
Mumbai with other Indian cities to follow. The platform is currently
undergoing technical trials.
About
ANYTIME
Headquartered in Singapore, ANYTIME is Asia Pacific’s
leading Video on-Demand channel delivered to consumers over IPTV,
broadband and digital cable networks. With output deals and access to the
libraries of four of Hollywood’s leading studios—Fox, Sony, Warner and
Universal—and licenses with regional content providers like Celestial
Pictures, ICON Film Distribution and Becker Entertainment, ANYTIME has an
unsurpassed programming line-up. When added to proven technology, ANYTIME
delivers compelling content with the control and convenience that
consumers demand.
ANYTIME has existing carriage deals in Australia,
Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, and the rights to license into 14
territories in Asia Pacific.
ANYTIME’s shareholder’s include CPE
Holdings Inc. (Sony), Fox Media Services Inc., Intel Capital, Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc., YTC Group (a Singapore based multinational
conglomerate), the Macquarie Bank Group and Coote/Hayes Productions LLC (a
U.S. based TV and film production company).
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About India On
Line (IOL) Broadband Ltd
IOL Broadband Ltd is the first
company to introduce commercially deployable Broadband Interactive
Multimedia Services in India. It has a fully integrated backbone network,
featuring “1-1000Mbps” access, that provides superior network experience
over its competitors.
Apart from broadband Internet access capable
of delivering Television / Video on demand, IOL offers interactive
services like entertainment-on-demand, games, video-conferencing etc. to
its broadband users.
IOL has high quality digitally encoded
software featuring up to 200 channels comprising of music, movies,
entertainment, news, sports etc. in various languages sourced from
different countries. It provides an easy access to over 20,000 hours of
Content and instant hot link connectivity to hundreds of Broadband sites
globally.
IOL Broadband connections can expand your business'
global reach thereby improving communication, increasing productivity and
reducing costs.
Only Company in India to have Last Mile access to
over 1 Million homes via its own/lease Fiber network as well as the
BSNL/MTNL ADSL Broadband Networks (growing at the rate of approx. 50%
annually).
For further enquiries about ANYTIME and requests for
interviews, please contact:
LEWIS Public
Relations
Shawn Balakrishnan
shawnb@lewispr.com
+65 90493614
Karin Wong
karin@lewispr.com
+65 9152 2084 |
IOL
A.S.Oberai
oberai@iolbroadband.com
+91 9819619139
Vinayak Hadkar
vinayak@iolbroadband.com
+91
9867830099 |
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