The Belarusian incumbent Beltelecom has announced major changes to its IPTV platform Zala, which dates back to 2008 and currently has over 2 million subscribers.
According to the company, these have significantly expanded its functionality and capacity, with new functions being added to existing TV services and the interface remaining convenient and clear. The single IPTV/OTT platform will now provide subscribers such popular video services as YouTube, ivi online cinema, Megogo media services and more.tv as well as Clear Kino +. Meanwhile, the set-top box menu will also provide access to Beltelecom’s existing services: My Beltelecom application and a video surveillance service. New services include payment for the current service according to the ERIP QR code, access to built-in games and photos on Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox
Commenting on the development, Sergey Turomsha, deputy general director for commercial affairs, Beltelecom, said: Improving the infrastructure, along with improving the quality and list of services, is a priority for the company. The modernisation of the IPTV technology platform will provide a technical opportunity to launch new services, expand the tariff line, develop new products in accordance with user requests and market priorities. Thus, these qualitative changes mark the process of transition from extensive growth to expanding the range of services offered”.
Vadim Shaibakov, deputy general director for technical affairs, added: “The Zala platform hosted more than 150 TV channels and about 5,000 units of film content. Due to the upgrade, these parameters will be significantly increased. Already, the capacity of the platform has been expanded to 2,250,000 subscribers. Additional features have been introduced, including support for OTT and 4K technologies”.
ZTE has been Beltelecom’s partner in implementing IPTV/OTT services for more than 10 years. Its director Wei Wei said: “ZTE has successfully implemented over 120 commercial projects using various “big video” solutions in more than 45 countries. We are very pleased that our systematic cooperation with Beltelecom is one of the most notable ZTE IPTV/OTT projects in the CIS countries. This service is invariably popular among subscribers, there is a steady growth in demand for this service. The modernisation of the IPTV platform in 2021 was a natural continuation of the work to continuously improve the quality of services provided”.
