VimpelCom decided to work on the development of online television

The operator VimpelCom, which is developing the Beeline TV video platform, is developing another online film and television service based on a ready-made solution, possibly from the SPB TV company, Kommersant discovered. The latter is known, in particular, for its work on online video services for Beeline in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and mobile applications for watching TV channels. Kommersant’s sources say that the operator could acquire a number of SPB TV assets in order to replace the technical platform of Beeline TV: this service traditionally worked on American solutions.

VimpelCom has registered the domain beepopcorn.ru, which hosts an online cinema and online television (IPTV) website under development, Kommersant has discovered. We are talking about a white label solution, that is, a ready-made standard development that the customer must adapt to his own corporate style. The website beepopcorn.ru contains logos of the SPB TV company.

VimpelCom responded to Kommersant’s questions regarding the acquisition of SPB TV or its assets: “Details of new projects and initiatives will be officially announced at the right time.” SPB TV did not respond to the request.

VimpelCom already has an IPTV service, Beeline TV, which has been operating since 2009. Initially, the service was based on the video platform from Microsoft, and in 2018 it switched to a solution from the American Kaltura. The online video (OTT) platform from SPB TV was previously used by Beeline operators in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. At the time of the implementation of its solutions (in 2017 and 2019, respectively), all operators under the Beeline / Beeline brand were members of the Veon group; in October 2023, the deal to sell VimpelCom to Russian management was closed.

SPB TV also develops user applications for watching TV channels via the Internet. The publisher of one of these applications, SPB TV Russia, is listed as VimpelCom in the App Store and Google Play mobile stores. According to a Kommersant source familiar with the situation, the change of publisher occurred “during a transaction completed in the fall of 2023.”

TelecomDaily CEO Denis Kuskov notes that the online cinema market in Russia (estimated volume including licensing is 95 billion rubles) is now comparable to the pay TV market (106 billion rubles), while the former is growing faster. “Beeline TV is in the top 5 of the pay TV market, but its share in the non-linear television viewing market is not so large,” continues the expert, and in such conditions, according to him, it is more logical for VimpelCom not only to update the software platform of the existing service , but also generally change its operating model and positioning, which could be facilitated by the deal with SPB TV.

After separating from Veon, VimpelCom eliminates dependence on foreign technical solutions (for example, in March the company announced the purchase of the rights to the source code of the Amdocs billing system), recalls Kommersant’s second source on the market. “In this context, the scenario of acquiring at least some of the assets and technologies of SPB TV looks especially realistic,” says Kommersant’s interlocutor. At the same time, there is no logic for the company to create a service that duplicates Beeline TV. “Perhaps beepopcorn.ru will be a platform for testing the technical solution from SPB TV for suitability for deployment on Beeline TV,” he suggests.

Yuri Litvinenko, Timofey Kornev