euro news_news 14/08/2015 09:23 Page 6
Lebara Play OTT
for migrants
elecoms provider
Lebara, best known
for calling plans to
enable migrant
communities to connect, has
launched Lebara Play, which
aims to bridge the content
gap by providing a new
entertainment service for
migrants. The service claims
T
“We’re delivering
on our plans to
disrupt the
existing
entertainment
landscape.”
A
ccording to Thierry
Fautier, vice
president of video
strategy at Harmonic and
president of the Ultra HD
Forum (below), as the
television industry inches
closer to completely
adopting Ultra HD (HD) for
video production and
to be the only multiethnic entertainment
service bringing
together free and
premium, fully-licensed
content in 13 languages in
one place, without longterm commitments.
Yoganathan Ratheesan,
chairman and CEO of Lebara
Group, said the company had
been working behind the scenes
for the last two years to put
together the service, which
unshackles the migrant
consumer from extensive
commitments in terms of
contractual commitments, often
entailing separate agreements
and cards for a range of
backwards compatibility
scheme needs to be created
in order to support Phase 1
TVs (HDMI 2.0 capable),” he
advises.
“Moreover, the industry
needs to properly define UHD
production and delivery
workflows. Ultimately, an endto-end ecosystem should be
channels, or even the purchase of
set-top boxes and satellite
receivers.
“Serving the migrant
community is at the core of
everything we do at Lebara,” said
Ratheesan. “While the need to
call loved ones is never far away,
as new locations become home
for our customers, different
needs such as financial services
and entertainment become more
important. Lebara Play is an
unrivalled service designed for
an under-served community; and
the launch proves that we’re
delivering on our plans to
disrupt the existing
entertainment landscape and
diversify our communications
business.”
Company executives stressed
that all Lebara Play’s content is
100% legal and licensed, which
not only produces a consistent
and high quality us