Home News Reason why iFlix and TM are smart to join hands in offering a 1-year free iFlix subscription

Reason why iFlix and TM are smart to join hands in offering a 1-year free iFlix subscription

by Warren
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I remembered attending one of TM’s (Telekom Malaysia) press conferences and one of the officials went up on stage then asked the members of the media, “What is the first impression that TM gives you?”, “Internet Service Provider” was obviously the first answer that comes in to mind to every member of the media. When it comes to the telco’s streaming and on-demand TV service HyppTV, not many seem to be interested in what the country’s largest ISP is offering or how it would continue to improve its service.

Let’s face it, TM obviously wants users to switch from the expensive, close to monopoly TV sattelite company Astro, and the company has since been emphasizing its competitor’s weaknesses such as poor weather reception, and claiming that it is far superior by merely requiring a fast broadband connection to be able to enjoy its TV service in the living room. While I have to agree on that, the problem that TM is facing with HyppTV is the amount of content it is able to offer and in my very own experience, a very immature viewing experience on mobile devices.

On the other hand, iFlix is the cheapest on-demand service that the company could ever offer to consumers here, and it is lacking of on-demand content that it requires to stay long enough in the game, while other established streaming services could be making its way into the country, it has a killer app that allows you to store content offline.  Hence, the announcement of iFlix and TM giving away a year of free iFlix subscription is an absolutely correct move from both parties, many might actually think that the TM could’ve killed its own HyppTV service by doing this, but in truth this is going to benefit both parties and consumers.

How?

TM has already included its HyppTV services along with its Unifi Fiber Optic packages, and while you may need to pay up for premium channels either in ala carte or package, its free to play content has been sufficient for many users out there, so that means every TM Unifi subscriber would have a HyppTV top box at home. By having iFlix in the picture, it would enable TM to leverage on iFlix’s growing on-demand content to gain access and eventually grow its own service value. In iFlix’s case, the company would be able to tap into the user base of TM customers and grow at the same time. Simply put, both parties are on a perfect win-win situation by gaining what they need, and this in return benefits the Malaysian consumers in saving their cash for not paying over expensive TV sattelite services.

Over the years, online video streaming has seen a growing trend since YouTube’s inception, and with the inclusion of Fiber Optic internet services, it makes a lot of sense that an ISP, TV Service and on-demand streaming service joins hand in making content more accessible than ever. Hence, this is the smartest move ever to stay strong in the industry.

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