ECONET MEDIA BRINGS COMPELLING TV EVERYWHERE SERVICE TO AFRICA

“We are looking to the Verimatrix platform to support our anticipated growth. A key reason we chose them is they have already proven their architecture can scale up to millions of users.”

- Anton Lokotsch, Head of Technical, Kwesé Play, Econet

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THE SITUATIONIn November 2016, Econet Media, the pay-TV division

of the Econet Group, announced it had selected the

Verimatrix ® Video Content Authority System (VCAS™ )

platform to secure its Kwesé TV satellite-delivered DTH

service. Kwesé TV was developed with the intention to

offer African viewers a compelling alternative to existing

pay-TV services in the region.

With an emphasis on premium live sports content from

major rights holders such as the English Premier League

(EPL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and

the National Football League (NFL), revenue security

was a major consideration from the outset. This led

Econet to select Verimatrix for its solid reputation and

proven scalability across broadcast and OTT services.

The DTH service delivery is protected using the VCAS

for DVB cardless conditional access (CA) system,

reducing the total cost of ownership compared to

legacy CA systems. Extending the security perimeter

to TV Everywhere and hybrid broadcast-OTT services

was the next goal for Kwesé TV.

The Sub-Saharan African pay-TV market is at a dynamic stage of its development. Over-the-top (OTT) and mobile video services are emerging, and the resulting pay-TV competition for consumers is intensifying. Econet Media has established itself as a leading pay-TV service provider, having initially deployed a Pan-African direct-to-home (DTH) platform to compete

with the dominant satellite-based provider. The DTH service is currently available in 21 countries.

Econet Media Brings Compelling TV Everywhere Service to Africa

30 MILLION HOMES21 COUNTRIES, 75+ CHANNELS

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THE CHALLENGE In September 2017, Econet launched the Kwesé Play streaming TV service in South Africa, which features Netflix through an

exclusive partnership. Only Econet Media may distribute Netflix content over its Roku Powered™ Kwese Play streaming device in Africa.

In the next service rollout phase, the company is aiming to leapfrog the competition by offering multi-screen TV Everywhere

services to its DTH subscribers.

The comprehensive offer comprises more than 70 live channels and everything else that subscribers have contracted for as part

of their Kwesé TV DTH package, now providing access to the same content on various devices. To realize its TV Everywhere

goal, Econet needed to implement adaptive bit rate streaming plus content security for all types of OTT devices, such as iOS

and Android phones and tablets, PCs and Macs, and Roku streaming players.

Furthermore, the preference was to use a single streaming format, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), and a single DRM. This is where

the Verimatrix VCAS for DVB Hybrid security solution comes into play.

THE SOLUTIONEconet partnered with streaming pioneer Roku® to bring the Kwese Play box to life.

As a Roku Powered licensee, Econet leverages the proven Roku streaming platform

(including the Roku OS, Roku Channel Store, and low-cost streaming players) to

deliver Kwese Play to its customers. In partnership with Roku, Econet developed its

own streaming player by customizing the home screen, channel store, and streaming player for its customers. Roku provides

ongoing software updates to the Roku OS, hosts the channel store, and provides application development support and

certification services. The Roku Powered Kwese Play box plays a vital role in delivering Econet Media’s

OTT services across Africa. This is further augmented by its sister company, Liquid Telecom, which

has developed the largest fiber network in Africa. These two together provide a solid infrastructure

for Econet Media to roll out a private content delivery network (CDN) to transport its services. Econet selected AWS Elemental,

an Amazon Web Services company, for video processing and delivery and selected Verimatrix to secure the entire solution.

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Kwese Play has put Econet in the enviable position of being able to deliver OTT content at the highest possible quality for

enjoyment on screens of any size and resolution in Africa.

Anton Lokotsch, Head of Technical, Kwesé Play, stressed that the choice of video processing and content security suppliers was

determined greatly by their ability to work seamlessly together. This led Econet Media to select AWS Elemental for its software-

based video processing solutions and Verimatrix with its VCAS for DVB Hybrid multi-network security solution. API integration

between Verimatrix and AWS Elemental Live and AWS Elemental Server provides a single coherent solution that combines the

content security management, encryption, and encoding processes.

VERIMATRIX

VCAS for DVB Hybrid

• VCAS for DVB Hybrid is a multi-network revenue security solution enabling the combination of DVB linear services, in this

case delivered via satellite, with adaptive bit rate streaming of on-demand content.

• The DVB services are delivered to a low-cost STB, while the on demand services are

available on a variety of OTT devices such as PCs and Macs, iOS and Android

phones and tablets. Moreover, VCAS is already fully integrated into the Roku box,

in addition to the mentioned OTT devices, thus ensuring that Econet’s online service

will benefit from the same level of protection as its DTH content delivery.

• VCAS has also passed the stringent Farncombe Security Audit ™ by Cartesian.

• Scalability is deemed a crucial factor for the Econet ecosystem given expectations of rapid growth in streaming subscribers.

Lokotsch anticipates the number reaching several million within a year or two and so the proven scalability of the adopted

platform was crucial. “We are looking to the Verimatrix platform to support our anticipated growth. A key reason we chose

them is they have already proven their architecture can scale up to millions of users.”

AWS ELEMENTAL

Software-based video processing

• AWS Elemental combines deep video expertise with the power of the AWS cloud. Its solutions allow video providers to move

beyond the limitations imposed by traditional video architectures and keep

pace with the changing nature of video consumption. Its flexible, software-based

video processing and delivery solutions give video providers the ability to ingest, process, package, deliver, and monetize

video content at scale to a multitude of devices.

• AWS Elemental real-time software-based encoding, combined with the VCAS Hybrid solution, allows for the processing and

delivery of high quality video streams, simplifying maintenance and operational requirements while protecting content over

both managed and unmanaged networks. Video providers have the option to deploy the integrated solution on-premises,

virtualized, or in the cloud, and it is ideal for both large-scale broadcast and multiscreen video applications.

As Lokotsch explained, the integration also has benefits for the consumer by reducing the processing overhead of supporting

multiple streaming formats and DRMs to reach the diverse constellation of fixed and mobile devices now available.

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“Then we apply the Verimatrix security on top of that. This unique combination of VCAS for DVB

Hybrid and our media player allows us to have only one streaming format for all these devices.

We neither have to manage a multiple DRM approach, nor face a multiple encoding challenge

to support all these devices, including PCs, Macs, iOS and Android clients.It allows us to escape

that multi-DRM complexity and select just one streaming format for all devices, which makes everything a lot simpler

from the management point of view while it also reduces the total resources required.”

Anton Lokotsch, Head of Technical, Kwesé Play, Econet

This saving of resources through unified stream packaging can significantly improve the user QoE. “Repackaging streams

requires an extreme amount of resources on the backend,” Lokotsch explained. “This means that at times of peak load, your

repackager can come under pressure because it’s repackaging all these streams in different formats for all these viewers. If

you take repackaging out of the loop, there’s not this extra resource bottleneck

or constraint.” The result is more consistent quality of service (QoS), especially

at peak times.

THE FUTUREThe OTT deployment is well underway with the first Roku

Powered Kwese Play boxes rolling out. Availability of

the OTT service providing premium content at high

quality represents major progress; not just for Econet

but for the entire Sub-Saharan African pay-TV market.

Econet Media plans to deploy its TV Everywhere service in at least 17 Sub-Saharan countries and has so far launched in

four — Ghana, Lesotho, Botswana and Rwanda. With compelling content, a competitive hybrid satellite and OTT network

approach, and proven multi-network security from Verimatrix with support for all types of OTT devices including Roku, the

company is well on its way to attaining its goal.

THE RESULTThe API integration between AWS Elemental and Verimatrix means that security and encoding are tightly coupled, which

allows Econet to have just one input for each stream. It avoids the operator having to be concerned either with multiple DRMs

or multiple encoding approaches. “So, we have a single input for each stream and that stream gets encoded as an adaptive

bit rate stream using Apple HLS,” said Lokotsch.

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ABOUT ECONET MEDIA A subsidiary company of the globally networked Econet Group founded by Executive Chairman Strive Masiyiwa, Econet Media

is a dynamic content business driving the development of Kwesé, a fresh new television brand. Created for Sub-Saharan African

audiences, Kwesé is inspired by the ‘TV everywhere’ revolution. As such, a range of Kwesé products will be made available on

satellite and internet based platforms, including video-on-demand and mobile options. Focused on providing premium, affordable,

exclusive viewing choices, Kwesé products will offer sports, music, movies, series, kids, lifestyle, faith, news and other programming.

Consumers will also benefit from the infrastructural strength of Econet Media sister companies, Liquid Telecom and Econet Wireless.

Their expertise and capacity in the areas of mobile and fixed telephony services, broadband, internet, satellite and fibre optic

networks will be utilized to establish Kwesé products. In addition, Econet Media have invested intensively to build its own

operational assets. www.kwese.com

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Verimatrix specializes in enhancing and securing revenue for connected devices and IP-based services around the world.

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Verimatrix is focused on enhancing the connected content distribution workflow by leveraging its award-winning VCAS™

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