IOT Group to stream content to over 100 countries across APAC

IOT Group Limited (ASX: IOT) subsidiary - OTT Premium Pty Ltd - has entered an exclusive agreement to bring Xstream’s over-the-top media streaming platform to Australia and more than 100 countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Xstream, one of the only independently owned tier-one streaming companies in the world, offers telcos, broadcasters, production and film companies and content owners with the full end to end over-the-top platform to deliver content which can be viewed on any device, at anytime, anywhere.

OTT Premium will be headed up by Bob Morrison who joined Xstream as Managing Director, Asia Pacific in 2015 to launch, manage and grow Xstream’s operations across the region, after earlier spending 12 months on the board of Xstream. Bob is a known business strategist and respected industry leader bringing with him over 25 years of entertainment, media, television, content and OTT experience.

The Xstream technology will allow global content to be delivered instantly and seamlessly to Australian audiences - and Australian content to be delivered to new audiences around the world. Existing Xstream clients include Telenor (the world’s fourth biggest telco), Spark New Zealand (formerly Telecom New Zealand) and Bollywood’s largest production studio – Balaji Telefilms and is in discussion with some major players in the APAC region. In addition, OTT Premium will be adopting Xstream’s dynamic business model which means no matter the size of the client, OTT Premium will cohesively scale with each client’s individual needs.

“This partnership will expand the reach of an Australian tech company across the entire region,” said Mr Duffell, Executive Director of IOT Group. “There is a gap in the market for customers looking for unique content delivered as and when they want it. There’s numerous streaming and VOD services offering mass content, few of which offer tailored viewing or multilingual channels to address unique tastes.  The Xstream platform already has access to over 10,000+ hours of homeland television and continues to grow.”

“This partnership presents a huge opportunity for Australian broadcasters and telcos to bring previously unseen global TV content to local audiences, and provides a platform for Australian artists and production companies to bring their new content to a global stage,” Mr. Morrison said.

Simon Hoegsbro, CEO of Xstream, commented: ““The entire Asia Pacific region is experiencing tremendous growth in online video viewership. Entering this new era with OTT Premium will allow us to meet the increasing demand for our technology in this region. We are honoured that OTT Premium has chosen Xstream to spearhead its reach into the Asia-Pacific region and we are committed to working with OTT Premium to offer a flexible, best in class OTT platform across the Asia Pacific continuing our commitment to simplify the complexity of Internet TV for our customers “

Over-the-Top (OTT) applications and services are the platform that delivers streaming and video-on-demand services to use on mobiles, tablet, web, smart TV, set-top-box and consoles and mobile devices. OTT providers are poised for scale and growth as they deliver user content over the Internet bypassing traditional distribution channels more generally, at a lower cost.  Examples include Netflix and Apple TV (replacing your regular TV provider) or Skype (replacing your long distance provider).