Zainalabedin: "iflix to redefine how consumers in MENA enjoy entertainment content"

Zain customers given complimentary two months of unlimited access to the world's leading video-on-demand service

Thousands of Hollywood and Arabic TV shows, movies and more

MANAMA - 22 May 2017

Zain Bahrain, a leading telecommunications provider in Bahrain, announced the official launch of iflix’s world-class Streaming Video on Demand (SVoD) service in Bahrain. Zain and iflix previously announced the formation of this joint venture to bring the world’s leading entertainment service for emerging markets to consumers to MENA.

With over 170 studio and distributor partnerships worldwide, iflix offers users a vast library of top Hollywood, regional Arabic, popular Turkish and other local TV shows and movies, including many first run exclusives and award winning programs. The service is now available to Zain customers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, with Sudan and Lebanon offerings coming soon. The companies plan to further extend service availability to other markets in the region.

From today, Zain Bahrain customers will receive a complimentary two months free subscription to the service. New users can go to www.iflix.com or download the app from the Google Play or Apple App Store to sign-up.

Once registered, Zain Bahrain customers can enjoy an extensive range of thousands of TV shows, movies and more with Arabic and English subtitles, including many first run exclusives and award winning programs all available on iflix. In addition to having the best of Hollywood, Bollywood, regional and local programs, as well as over 2,000 episodes of children’s content, the service will additionally offer an extensive collection of highly acclaimed Arabic shows and movies with iflix planning to introduce exclusive Arabic content series soon.

Commenting on the launch, Zain Bahrain General Manager Mohammed Zainalabedin said, “iflix is set to redefine how our customers enjoy online entertainment, with groundbreaking features and continuous platform innovation, wherever and whenever they want. This is a launch of another content-driven offering that we are very proud of with respect to giving our customers compelling, and unique digital services to enrich their mobile experience. We will continue working on bringing more appealing content platforms in the future.”

iflix co-founder and Group CEO, Mark Britt said, “We are extremely excited to bring our service to the Middle East and North Africa region. We believe that we have found the ideal partner, with Zain to help communicate and deliver our value proposition to customers throughout the region, and meet the growing demand throughout MENA for a world class service like iflix. We look forward to making iflix’s extraordinary content and service available to Zain’s 46 million customers. This is a monumental beginning for what we believe will be a very important and successful partnership with Zain.”

Having first launched its service in May 2015, iflix quickly established its dominance in the Asian region, rolling out its world class service to 10 markets in less than two years, acquiring over five million members within this period. With Zain’s 46 million customers, the joint venture will benefit from and leverage the mobile operator’s established market leadership in conjunction with learnings iflix acquired in consolidating its dominance throughout Asia. Zain and iflix will work together in capitalising on the MENA’s large youth population, rapidly growing internet and smartphone penetration, and huge appetite for digital content and entertainment.

iflix’s propriety compression and adaptive bit rate technology further ensures that users will have a great viewing experience, by enabling the service to stream smoothly even on low internet speeds. Each subscription allows users to access the service on up to five devices, including phones, laptops, tablets, and television sets, for viewing wherever, whenever. A special feature for iflix subscribers is that they can also download TV shows and movies onto their smartphones and tablets from iflix’s extensive catalogue for offline viewing.

The launch of iflix is another key step in the development of the Zain Digital Frontier and Innovation (ZDFI) business unit, which is charged with launching Zain into the digital space and the view to growing the company through new innovative business streams that contribute to Zain’s financial viability and market capitalization. ZDFI focuses on the areas of innovation; digital services; corporate venturing; and smart cities, with the aim of Zain becoming a regional innovation trendsetter.

Please visit www.iflix.com  or www.bh.zain.com  for more information on how to get your complimentary subscription and to start enjoying unlimited entertainment with iflix. 

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About Zain Bahrain
Zain Bahrain, a telecommunications industry innovator focused on enhancing customer experience, was awarded a mobile telecom license on 22 April, 2003 and commenced commercial operations on 28 December 2003. The operation promptly placed Bahrain on the world telecom map through the introduction of many mobile technology innovations that continue to this day with nationwide high-speed 4G LTE services being offered through the Kingdom’s most advanced mobile network. Zain Bahrain, listed on the Bahrain Bourse (Ticker: ZAINBH), is part of Zain Group, a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa, which provides mobile voice and data services to over 45 million active customers. With a commercial presence in eight countries, Zain operates in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages ‘touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in ‘INWI’, through a joint venture. For more information, please email info@bh.zain.com   or visit: www.bh.zain.com

About Zain Group
Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 46.1 million active customers as of 31 March, 2017. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in: Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages ‘touch’ on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in ‘INWI’, through a joint venture. Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (stock ticker: ZAIN). For more, please email info@zain.com   or visit: www.zain.com ; www.facebook.com/zain ; www.twitter.com/zain ; www.youtube.com/zain  ; www.instagram.com/zaingroup  ; www.linkedin.com/company/zain  

ABOUT IFLIX
iflix is the world’s leading Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) service for emerging markets, offering users unlimited access to thousands TV shows, movies and more. With a vast selection of first run exclusives and award winning movies and shows, plus the best in local and regional programs, iflix places the entertainment people want at their fingertips to either stream or download. For one low monthly fee, iflix subscribers can watch on their mobile phone, laptop, tablet, TV… wherever, whenever. Let’s play.

© Press Release 2017