PCCW (SEHK: 0008) – HONG KONG, March 11, 2015 –In line with PCCW’s group strategy to address opportunities in the increasingly digital world as consumers embrace digital lifestyle, PCCW Media has entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling majority interest in Vuclip, a leading mobile video-on-demand service platform that currently operates in six countries with over seven million mobile subscribers per quarter.
This expansion of its digital video business beyond Hong Kong follows PCCW Media’s successful development of its local OTT services including MOOV music and now TV news, sports and entertainment apps, and forms part of its continued evolution into a top digital entertainment service provider in Asia. Via this investment, PCCW Media can expedite its strategy in rolling out its OTT video service in the region and beyond.
Vuclip is a leading premium mobile VOD service for emerging markets. Its current footprint in Asia includes India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, with rollout plans for other Southeast Asian markets in 2015. Its services are also available outside Asia in Egypt, and will expand to other countries in Africa and the Middle East. It brings to subscribers a vast content catalog of more than one million titles including Bollywood and Hollywood movies, TV shows, entertainment and sports news, music videos, etc. in 25 different languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Indonesian Bahasa, Arabic, Malay and Thai. Additionally, subscribers benefit from convenient mobile payment solutions via Vuclip’s expanding partnership with more than 13 leading regional carriers.
Vuclip’s strengths include its early and extensive penetration into emerging markets facilitated by the use of its patented Dynamic Adaptive Transcoding technology that can deliver high-quality video content across variable network conditions and across all mobile devices without buffering. This uniquely addresses the challenges of device fragmentation, particularly in emerging markets where the bulk of users are rapidly migrating to smartphones and tablets.
Ms. Janice Lee, Managing Director of PCCW Media, said, “Our vision is to expand beyond Hong Kong by offering industry leading OTT services. Together, Vuclip and PCCW Media will develop a best of breed OTT platform that provides immediate access to PCCW Media’s premium Asian content set (including Korean, Japanese, and Chinese language content) across a much expanded audience base in the Asian continent and other regions. The integrated billing solution that Vuclip has developed with its telecom partners in various markets will enable us to fast track our OTT video and music penetration globally.”
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Vuclip is headquartered in Milpitas, California in the U.S. and has several other offices around the world including a significant presence in Asia. It was founded in 2008 by Dr. Nickhil Jakatdar, who will remain as Chief Executive Officer of Vuclip to continue spearheading the development of Vuclip.
Dr. Jakatdar said, “As a leader in mobile video for emerging markets, we have always strived to meet the needs of our users with a combination of our innovative technology and a strong partner ecosystem comprised of content studios, mobile operators and advertisers. With the synergies between PCCW Media and Vuclip, we can now serve the emerging markets better and accelerate our global expansion.”
Vuclip’s management team is comprised of global media and technology professionals with decades of experience and deep market expertise.
Closure of PCCW Media’s acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
This transaction does not constitute a notifiable transaction under the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
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About PCCW Media
The media group of PCCW is a leading, fully integrated multimedia and entertainment group in Hong Kong.
The media group operates the leading pay-TV service in Hong Kong under the now TV brand delivering both self-produced and licensed content to its customers using advanced IPTV technology. now TV has over 1.2 million customers with more than 180 channels of local, Asian and international programming. It is also a leading producer of Chinese language news, financial news, sports and entertainment programming in addition to music and events production which complements its wide portfolio of licensed international television content.
In addition to now TV, the media group also operates the new media and directories businesses. New media’s digital music service, MOOV, is Hong Kong’s first and largest multi-platform digital streaming music service. Its online content service, now.com, is a subscription based video streaming proposition offering over 5,000 streaming videos.
The media group also operates one of Asia’s leading directories businesses under the Yellow Pages brand.
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About PCCW Limited
PCCW Limited (SEHK: 0008) is a Hong Kong-based company which holds interests in telecommunications, media, IT solutions, property development and investment, and other businesses.
The Company holds a majority interest in HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider. HKT meets the needs of the Hong Kong public and local and international businesses with a wide range of services including local telephony, local data and broadband, international telecommunications, mobile, and other telecommunications businesses such as customer premises equipment sale, outsourcing, consulting, and contact centers.
PCCW also owns a fully integrated multimedia and entertainment group in Hong Kong, which includes a highly successful IPTV operation, now TV. As the provider of Hong Kong’s first quadruple-play experience, PCCW offers a range of innovative media content and services across four delivery platforms – fixed-line, broadband Internet access, TV and mobile.
Also wholly-owned by the Group, PCCW Solutions is a leading information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing provider in Hong Kong and mainland China.
In addition, PCCW holds a majority interest in Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited, and overseas investments including the wholly-owned UK Broadband Limited. To learn more about PCCW, please visit www.pccw.com.
For more information, please contact:
Ivan Ho
PCCW
Tel: +852 2883 8747
Email: ivan.wy.ho@pccw.com