SingTel has teamed up with entertainment industry giants Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros Entertainment to establish an OTT video service joint venture in Asia.
The venture, HOOQ, will provide a catalog of over 10,000 movies and TV series to countries within SingTel group's Asian mobile footprint - including Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Thailand.
As well as Hollywood films and TV series, the JV will provide a selection of Indian, Chinese, Thai, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean and Japanese movies and shows.
HOOQ will use SingTel's carrier billing capabilities in its operating markets to cater to developed markets where credit card ownership is limited.
“Demand for OTT video has been growing and is poised for higher growth in these markets fuelled by better data networks and the growing supply of affordable devices. This is a more than S$1 billion ($799.8 million) opportunity in our markets,” SingTel Group Digital L!fe CEO Jonathan Auerbach said.
“Video transmission requires significant internet bandwidth, which greatly affects customer experience. With HOOQ, we are bringing together key elements of technology, service and content to deliver the full internet experience to customers.”
He said SingTel aims to become the largest OTT video service provider in the APAC region.