V-Nova Partners with Simplestream for New Pan-African Streaming Service MVMO

The P+ codec enhancement technology enables MVMO to vastly increase its audience reach on mobile networks across the continent

London, UK(11 Sep 2019)

V-Nova, a leading provider of video compression technologies, is delighted to announce that it is the key enabler for a groundbreaking new streaming service, MVMO, due to launch in Africa in late 2019. Partnering with next-generation OTT TV pioneer Simplestream, the service will combine the high-efficiency V-Nova P+ codec-agnostic enhancement and easy-to-deploy Simplestream streaming platform to deliver a wide range of high-quality content to audiences throughout the continent.

P+ supports the upcoming MPEG-5 Part 2 LCEVC compression standard, which means that MVMO will be one of the first platforms to deploy it. With MVMO, it will be possible to watch video anywhere there is a phone signal, which has huge potential as the demand for streamed content grows across Africa.

MVMO (Movies, Video, Music, Opportunity), is a distribution platform developed in association with the Creative Africa Exchange (CAX), a marketplace for the creative and cultural industry, sponsored by Afreximbank. MVMO is set to help consolidate the burgeoning demand for high-quality streaming content in Africa. Already trialing in several locations ahead of its official launch in Nigeria, with other countries to be confirmed shortly, MVMO is partnering with major global content providers, including Times Multimedia TMM as the exclusive news affiliate for the platform, but will also uniquely provide a platform for independent producers to publish and monetise their content to support the rapidly growing African creative industries.

Investment in cellular infrastructure in Africa continues apace with some 5G networks imminent but many people still only have access to 2G or 3G. Providing both robust video quality at very low bitrates and exceptional quality when possible is therefore critical.

According to V-Nova CEO and Co-Founder Guido Meardi, “Simplestream’s remarkable platform has revolutionised content distribution and continues to break new ground in the initiation of new streaming services. Our P+ software library is fundamental to the feasibility of this service as it allows people to enjoy video even on 2G networks with a bitrate of only 100 Kbps but also enables high quality full HD at just 1Mbps. Integrating P+ into Simplestream’s platform will open up opportunities worldwide.”

Dan Finch, Chief Commercial Officer of Simplestream, comments: “We are very pleased to be partnering with MVMO and V-Nova on the development and introduction of this hugely exciting new service. We see a lot of potential for V-Nova’s P+ technology to enable a larger reach to consumers and an improved quality of service in territories such as Africa that are particularly dependent on mobile networks. Combined with our award winning end to end streaming platform, that is now widely adopted across EMEA, we are confident that this service will be a vibrant addition to Africa’s burgeoning OTT TV sector.”

Sandra Iyawa, CEO of Times Multimedia and Chief Content Officer for MVMO, adds: “The combination of Simplestream and V-Nova technologies has provided us with a versatile and highly-efficient streaming platform that allows us to reach a vast untapped audience across any mobile network. We will be launching MVMO at the international CAX weekend event in Kigali, Rwanda in December and look forward to welcoming our first viewers to this unique new platform.”

For more information on CAX visit https://cax.africa/.

About V-Nova
V-Nova, a London based IP and software company, is dedicated to improving data compression by building a vast portfolio of innovative technologies based on the game-changing use of AI and parallel processing for data, video, imaging, point cloud compression, with applications across several verticals.