Iflix COO visits Colombo as leading video on demand service expands global reach

IflixGlobal COO, Marc Barnett was in Sri Lanka recently as iflix celebrates one year of operations in Colombo this month. Speaking to journalists at a meeting in Colombo, the COO of the world’s leading mobile-based Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) service enthused about the progress iflix has made in Sri Lanka, providing world-class customized international and local content to viewers all 
across the island. 

“We want to localize our content, and we want to unlock the potential in these markets. We will ensure we offer our services to all the people in the markets that we serve. If someone lives in a rural area and you haven’t had access to this service before, we want to make sure you have it, and we will customize the product in a way so that you can use it, you can afford it and watch it in a language that you prefer and to go beyond that. Affinity is important to us,” he said. 

Subscribers to iflix in Sri Lanka receive one-month free trial with full access to its service, features and content, whilst customers of Dialog Axiata receive an exclusive 12-months unlimited access to iflix services. Barnett added that iflix is passionate about presence in emerging markets, and to take the business and its offering to countries “where other global companies are not interested in going”. Iflix is about to expand to Sub-Saharan African regions, plus, Morocco and Iran and will soon grow its presence to over 30 markets. Adapting technology, people and content to suit local pallets is a key operating pillar for iflix globally, he said, to ensure reach across all segments. 

Iflix works in partnership with telcos in operating markets, which Barnet describes as ‘a cool model’. Carrier billing is important in a lot of markets it operates in he added, as most customers consume content on their mobile, and bundled offers with operators such as the one in Sri Lanka make iflix an attractive option. “The value proposition for us with a telco is two-fold; one is to increase their market share by adding something to their offering that a competitor doesn’t have, and then to increase usage of iflix which whilst providing world-class entertainment to customers will increase data consumption, so we believe we can carve win-win partnerships with them,” he added.

With more than 5 million members and 5 billion minutes streamed since launch, iflix has established itself as the clear market leader in video streaming. Now available to over one billion consumers across 18 territories throughout Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, iflix recently announced the establishment ofiflix Africa.