Omantel launches PlayVOD service

Muscat: Omantel, the first and leading telecom operator in Oman, announced the launch of a unique Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service, ‘PlayVOD’, in partnership with Digital Virgo, a France-based specialist in telecom payment, monetisation and digital marketing.

The new service, available in five languages, offers Omantel customers access to a rich library of more than 3,000 movies and TV series, mixing international and regional content.

To access the library, Omantel customers need to subscribe to the Premium SVOD service using Direct Carrier Billing (DCB), whereby intending subscribers can make purchases on their smartphones and devices by charging payments to their mobile phone bill.

The inaugural launch of PlayVOD in Oman builds on Zain’s group-wide agreement with Digital Virgo, following Omantel’s system integration with Zain Group’s Application Programme Interface (API) platform and the deployment of Direct Carrier Billing technology.

Commenting on this partnership, Aladdin Abdullah Bait Fadhil, Acting Vice President at Omantel’s Consumer Business Unit said, “The launch of PlayVOD in Oman is another example of Omantel’s pioneering approach to delivering compelling user experiences to our customers, fulfilling our strategy of enabling a digitally enriched society. PlayVOD allows our customers to watch videos without any constraints, whenever and wherever, with the platform offering English and Arabic content. Customers can enjoy streaming and downloading video content through PlayVOD for 200 Bz per day.”

Guillaume Briche, Digital Virgo CEO, commented, “This new agreement with Omantel is in line with our strategy of development in the Middle East. For the past few months, we have been working with major mobile operators in the region to set up long-lasting partnerships and deploy high-performance services. We are delighted to start this new collaboration with Omantel, making it the 15th country where we have launched PlayVod.”