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Mobile TV boost in N Africa

By Vanessa Haarhoff, ITWeb African correspondent
Johannesburg, 22 Mar 2007

Kuwaiti-based Noutique General Trading Company has signed an agreement with Kuwait's Wataniya Telecom for the provision of live mobile TV content to over 8.8 million mobile subscribers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Vimio, a provider of live mobile TV media distribution solutions and content to mobile networks, and a business partner of Noutique General Trading Company, will provide the enabling technology.

Pardraic Marran, VP of business development at Vimio, explains Noutique is a specialist telecommunications corporation. It was set up and is controlled by a prominent member of the Kuwaiti royal family, to provide support to the telecoms sector in the MENA region.

Vimio recently signed a licence agreement with Noutique, giving the company the right to use Vimio's live TV software, Marran says.

In terms of the agreement, Vimio will receive a licence fee of $2 million, together with a share of all revenue arising from those subscribers accessing Vimio-enabled content, according to Vimio's Web site.

This agreement is encouraging for Vimio, says Marran. "We hope to grow the subscriber base for this service in the region through other agreements and licence acquisitions by other mobile telecoms operators."

Wataniya has operations in Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, and is expanding its presence within the MENA region, as well as in Asia.

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