Ericsson acquires twofour54 playout business
Published: MEA
UAE: Ericsson has acquired the playout business of Abu Dhabi’s twofour54, initially providing playout services for nine different channels. The agreement, which comes as part of a long-term partnership, recognises the important role of the private sector in supporting twofour54 in building Abu Dhabi's media industry ecosystem. For Ericsson, the acquisition provides a springboard for its expansion into the region.
As part of this partnership, Ericsson will establish a media hub in Abu Dhabi to serve clients across the Middle East. The hub will provide playout services and act as the local base to eventually leverage Ericsson’s portfolio of services in content management, over-the-top (OTT), content discovery, metadata, creative and access services.
‘twofour54 is committed to the growth of the media industry across the MENA region,’ said Noura Al Kaabi, CEO of twofour54. ‘This long-term partnership with Ericsson is another step towards achieving our goal of being the region's leading developer of a sustainable, private sector led media industry.’
‘The Middle East is an exciting, high-growth region with a strong local and international broadcaster base,’ added Thorsten Sauer, head of broadcast and media services at Ericsson. ‘As the TV industry is witnessing a massive transformation in light of the convergence between IT, media and telecoms, Ericsson is helping broadcasters to overcome the challenges of this transformation and the fierce competition that exists in the rapidly changing TV market. The partnership with twofour54 is an important milestone in our ambition to provide industry-leading media services in this dynamic region.’