Airtel launches IQ Video platform, aims at $1 million revenue

Bharti Airtel (Airtel) on Tuesday launched Video Platform as a Service (CPaaS) — ‘Airtel IQ Video’, and the company said it aims at a turnover of $1 million from this platform.

The platform has been developed by the company’s in-house engineering teams and will allow entertainment companies and broadcasters to offer over-the-top (OTT) video services with minimal investment by leveraging Airtel’s cutting edge and secure video cloud platform.

“This is an emerging business and as per RBSA Advisors, India’s OTT video market today stands at $1.5 billion and is expected to grow by 8x to $12.5 billion by 2030…we are looking at a revenue of $1 million for Airtel IQ Video in the first phase,” Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Airtel, told reporters.

A cloud-based omni-channel communications platform, Airtel IQ will enable brands to deepen engagement with customers through timely and secure communication, he said adding it will eliminate the need for multiple communication platforms for different channels.

For instance, Raj TV, which used Airtel IQ Video, was able to digitise its content, host it on Airtel’s cloud platform and offer it to audiences both in India and across the global through its own OTT app. It 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 wanted to access these through OTT.

“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 deepening our relationship with Airtel,” M Raajhendhran, Managing Director at Raj Television Network, said.

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, 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,” Nair said.

With the Airtel IQ Video the company expects to see more content start-ups and traditional content companies coming online and directly engaging with consumers digitally, he added. The Hindu BusinessLine