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Mobile operator Zain Group and Asian sVOD service Iflix have established a new joint venture called Iflix Arabia. The new internet TV service will bring Iflix to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Iflix Arabia will be headquartered in Dubai and trade commercially as Iflix, adding Zain’s territories of operation to Iflix’s global footprint, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, with the potential to further extend into additional regional markets. 

The commercial launch of Iflix’s internet TV service across the MENA region is planned for the second quarter, at which time Iflix Arabia will offer consumers across the region and Zain mobile customers its range of thousands of TV shows, movies and more with Arabic and English subtitles, including many first-run exclusives and award-winning programmes. In addition to Hollywood, Bollywood, regional and local programmes, as well as over 2,000 episodes of children’s content, the service will offer an extensive collection of Arabic shows and movies, including exclusive Arabic series. 

Iflix first launched its service in May 2015 in the Asian region, rolling out its service to nine markets in less than two years and acquiring over four million customers over the period. With Zain’s 47 million customers, the joint venture will benefit from and leverage the mobile operator’s established position.

Iflix Arabia will capitalise on the MENA region’s large youth population, rapidly growing internet and smartphone penetration, and huge appetite for digital content and entertainment. Iflix’s propriety compression and adaptive bit rate technology further ensures that users have a great viewing experience even at low internet speeds. Each subscription allows users to access the service on up to five devices, including phones, laptops, tablets, and television sets. A special feature for Iflix subscribers is that they can also download TV shows and movies for offline viewing.