Spanish small operators team up to launch joint OTT TV platform

Groups representing smaller Spanish cable operators have presented plans for their joint OTT TV platform, Zapi TV, and have signed up Verimatrix to provide content security for the service. 

Zapi was the star offering on show at the Feria Tecnológica de Acutel, one of the cable operator organisations behind the plan. 

Local cable TV associations Acutel, the Association of Local Telecommunications Operators of Andalusia, and Aotec, the National Association of Telecommunications Operators and Internet Services, along with Opencable, a wholesale services operator that works with over 60 local players, and and southern Spanish regional operator PTV Telecom teamed up to create Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores to create the OTT offering, and in September signed up TV software specialist Mirada to provide its Iris Android TV Operator Tier launcher for the service, which includes cloud DVR, parental control, catch-up and startover features. 

The OTT TV-based TV platform is delivered over Android set-top-boxes, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs, with technology provided by Mirada and Anevia as well as Verimatrix. 

According to Anacom, Zapi will enable local telecom operators to offer their customers a complete set of products and services for their subscribers. At this week’s event, Acutel present Juan Manuel Armario said that over 2,500 users had registered during the first hours that the service was open for registration. 

“We developed our platform to provide Spanish audiences with a flexible, reliable, and state-of-the-art end-to-end pay tv video platform, and we took the same approach with security in mind,” said Jose Carrillo, CTO, Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores. 

“In addition to significant market recognition as a leading content security provider, Verimatrix presented a multi-DRM offering that is both flexible and reliable with a security framework that can be seamlessly integrated.”