MUMBAI, India – October 22, 2013 – Independent video and media company Vuclip has announced its partnership with Airtel to power the video section of the Re. 1 Entertainment Store.
The first of its kind, this mobile entertainment store brings a host of services including music, games, photos and videos, Airtel said in a press release.
The video section allows Airtel customers across India to enjoy thousands of premium content videos starting at just Re. 1 per video. As mobile video media partner, Vuclip is responsible for the technology, product, analytics, and content aggregation engine for the video section of the Airtel Entertainment Store.
“This is just the beginning of Airtel’s effort to bring video to the masses. In the Entertainment Store’s initial weeks, we have received an overwhelming response in terms of new user acquisition as well as engagement. We believe we have found the right partner with Vuclip because they understand video technology, mobile devices and network constraints but, just as important, they understand how to provide a great consumer experience,” said N. Rajaram, CEO-Data for Airtel India.
According to Airtel, prior to the Airtel Entertainment Store, video on mobile had been for the elite few with high-end devices and the means to pay a premium. This new store democratizes mobile video content, bringing video to the masses at an affordable price via a transparent and safe environment for consumers. In countries such as India, mobile penetration far surpasses Internet access; this store will ensure that anyone who wants to watch videos through the mobile internet will be able to do so.
Announced and launched August 16 of this year, the Airtel Entertainment Store has already garnered more than 10 million consumers accessing the site.
Browsing on the Airtel Entertainment Store is free with no impact to data usage, a huge concern for mobile users in India. Some additional first of its kind features are:
· 250,000 videos were available on the day of the store launch.
· Longer duration videos including full length movies.
· All videos are customized based on regional preferences.
· Algorithms are built in to recommend and suggest videos based on previous choices and viewing interests.
The video section of Airtel Re. 1 Entertainment Store runs on Vuclip’s Dynamic Adaptive TranscodingTM technology that seamlessly streams video on a real-time basis without buffering on any device and on any network.
“Airtel is leading v2.0 of the mobile internet by bringing compelling data solutions to consumers in a manner that appeals to the lay man. The Entertainment Store is a groundbreaking innovation bringing video content to a region that has high penetration of the widest variety of mobile devices but needed an initiative like this to dramatically increase data penetration,” said Nickhil Jakatdar, Founder and CEO of Vuclip. “We are proud to be Airtel’s strategic mobile video media partner and together reach millions of people with this solution.”
