V-Nova PERSEUS enables launch of Pipul TV in rapid-growth Nigerian market

• V-Nova PERSEUS Plus uniquely enables highest quality education and entertainment service over any network • Pipul TV leverages PERSEUS Plus to provide over 200 linear channels and vast VOD catalogue • PERSEUS Plus delivers HD video at 1 Mbps, maximi

London, UK(06 Sep 2018)

V-Nova, a leading provider of video compression solutions, today announced that Pipul TV, a next-generation Nigerian-based education and entertainment television and media communications network, has selected V-Nova PERSEUS Plus to support the launch of the company’s innovative service. The deployment of V-Nova’s next-generation compression technology will enable the delivery of the highest quality content to all devices of viewers across Nigeria, regardless of bandwidth.

The Nigerian pay-TV, video-on-demand (VOD), and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services market is growing rapidly as significant internet penetration and smartphone adoption alter the manner in which consumers view content. Mobile penetration in particular has rocketed in recent years going from 53% in 2016 to 84% in 2017[1]. In 2017 there were 21 million smartphones in Nigeria and this rapid growth, coupled with a huge appetite for media entertainment, presents a massive opportunity for services like Pipul TV.

By deploying V-Nova’s award-winning PERSEUS Plus, Pipul TV is able to deliver full HD video entertainment at 1 Mbps and 720p video at 300 kbps. Leveraging the reach of mobile networks, the service provides the best consumer experience but at a fraction of the bandwidth required with other solutions, resulting in reduced buffering and an overall improved quality of experience for consumers. The ability to deliver video at lower bitrates also enables services to reliably reach more viewers, even on the slowest or most congested network connections, increasing their addressable market substantially. Pipul TV is an IPTV service that has eliminated the data access cost and poor connectivity bottlenecks to subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Pipul TV has a clear goal to become the leading provider of premium entertainment in Nigeria and we’re tremendously excited to be at the forefront of a media revolution that is being driven by the huge growth in IP connectivity in the country” said Benjamin Okoroafor, CEO, Pipul TV. “Pipul TV is founded on a principle of delivering content with no subscriber-side data costs through agreements with local telcos which are made feasible by the lower bitrates PERSEUS Plus enables. Because PERSEUS Plus can be deployed to all devices today and provides such a significant improvement in the quality of experience that our customers will receive, it was clear this would be an absolute game-changer for the economics of our business and something that will keep us well ahead of the competition.”

The Pipul TV OTT service will carry over 200 local and international live channels and a large catalogue of VOD content. The service is projected to reach 2 million subscribers within 3 years. The service will initially be launched on a dedicated streaming set-top-box and then rolled out to more connected devices over time.

Guido Meardi, CEO and co-founder at V-Nova, added: “We’re proud to be supporting the ambitious Pipul TV service in one of the world’s most dynamic and rapid growth markets. Examples across the globe are showing today that IP delivery is what will drive massive growth in video and entertainment services, challenging existing networks and current technology solutions. This deployment is yet another great showcase for how our PERSEUS Plus technology can provide both substantially better viewing experiences and data delivery cost savings, whilst doing so at massive scale.”

[1] https://www.jumia.com.ng/mobile-report/