Setplex and VIVOplay Announce Joint Venture for OTT Services in Latin America

Setplex, a leading provider of flexible, end-to-end solutions for OTT service providers, announced that it has entered into a joint venture with VIVOplay, a leading virtual multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD), to deliver the Setplex end-to-end OTT platform capabilities with VIVOplay channels to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the Latin American region. Setplex and VIVOplay will initially roll out their combined service offerings in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, and then to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay. VIVOplay will have 40 channels available for their subscribers in the Andean cluster by the end of 2021.

Setplex and VIVOplay offer a compelling, and affordable, package of infrastructure and high-quality licensed content for small-to-medium ISPs. Most Latin American Tier-2 and Tier-3 ISPs do not have the investment capacity to condition infrastructure at their respective headends and do not have the ability to negotiate content licenses at reasonable prices. VIVOplay also offers an app that is available through Amazon fireTV, Apple TV, and Roku.

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VIVOplay, founded in 2013 in Venezuela, was the first Latin American OTT service to aggregate content, from more than 25 channels with premium programmers, in the region. The company produces more than 40 hours per week of exclusive content, creating a value stream that is unmatched currently in the region. Setplex has recently moved into the Latin American region, deploying its Setplex Nora platform to operators.

For ISPs in the Latin American region, Setplex provides a true one-stop service that includes everything from encoding and transcoding of video to the development of multi-screen apps, delivery of content via content delivery network (CDN), security management, and real-time analytics. Setplex has developed its Nora platform as a complete OTT/IPTV middleware solution that delivers TV, video-on-demand (VOD), catch-up TV, digital video recorder (DVR) and interactive services for customers in any IP-based network. Setplex Nora enables delivery of content to all major devices, including Smart TVs, set-top boxes, iOS, Android, and PC/Mac/Linux environments.

“As a leading OTT player in the Latin American region, VIVOplay has evolved into a virtual MVPD that offers a rapid solution for Internet providers in the region that want to offer television to their subscribers in an end-to-end solution that incorporates the best programming with the best technology,” said Carlos Hulett Guinand, founder and CEO of VIVOplay. “We have found in Setplex a unique platform that enables us to meet this customer demand effectively and at a very low cost for ISPs in the region. For VIVOplay, signing this agreement for Latin America with the main IPTV operator in Europe and North America puts us at a high level of competition that will allow us to grow with the speed that the market demands.”

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The Latin American OTT market is exploding. According to Statista, Latin American traditional pay TV operators had more than twice the number of subscribers as OTT services. At the end of 2020, OTT services in the region nearly doubled subscriber numbers from 2018 to more than 62.2 million, eclipsing pay TV subscriber figures, which had fallen to 57 million.

The Setplex Nora platform reduces onboarding friction for customers and is a fully future-proofed solution for all sizes of customers.

“We see tremendous opportunity in the Latin American market, as operators are seeking cost-effective OTT services with premium content, and we have an ideal partner in VIVOplay to deliver this kind of package,” said Marc Mulgrum, senior vice president of sales, Setplex. “As broadband penetration increases in Latin America, ISPs will need to offer OTT services that are right-sized for their budgets and attractive for their subscribers. We can deliver a range of options for even the smallest ISP in the market, with the right mix of simple, powerful, affordable solutions.”