Bharti Airtel unveiled an in-house OTT platform designed to lower the barrier for businesses to launch video streaming services, a beta of which already attracted three customers.

The operator explained in a statement Airtel IQ Video is an end-to-end managed service enabling businesses to create streaming products for large and small screens, with minimal investment in infrastructure and technology.

Airtel chief product officer Adarsh Nair stated IQ Video allows enterprises to focus on content while the platform manages the end-to-end technology to ensure a quality viewing experience.

“We expect to see more content start-ups and traditional content companies coming online and directly engaging with consumers digitally.”

During the beta phase, the platform is being used by India-based TV network Raj TV, subscription based on-demand media platform Eros Now and Nepal-based CG Telecom.

Raj Television Network MD M Raajhendhran explained it used IQ Video to digitise old analogue content, host it on Airtel’s cloud platform and offer it to audiences in India and globally through its own OTT app.

Airtel expects to sign up more than 50 brands to the platform in the next 12 months.