Digicel Launches Play Go Streaming App Across Caribbean

Bermuda-based telecommunications group Digicel has announced the launch of Play Go, a new live-streaming platform with sports and exclusive content, across 19 Caribbean markets (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Panama). Digicel Play Go includes live programming from seven HD channels—SportsMax, SportsMax2, NBA TV, Fight Sports, Catch, Catch 2 and Revolt TV—as well as drama, sitcom, reality series and popular documentary series. First and foremost, the platform is aimed at sports fans, with action ranging from soccer (UEFA Championships League, La Liga and Serie A) to cricket (the Indian Premier League, England Domestic League and International Cricket), basketball (NBA and NCAA), rugby and boxing. Play Go runs on iOS and Android for mobile devices and via a special browser platform for PCs. The service requires an active monthly subscription, and Digicel is offering the first 30 days free of charge.     As we have observed in the past, offering customers access to entertainment content is one of the best ways for mobile operators to keep their product above commodity status, particularly if that content is exclusive to the operator. The revenue potential of these services is substantial, the more so if the content is closely targeted to specific demographic groups. In this case, we think Digicel is making a very smart move, and that its investment in licensing sports and other entertainment streaming services will likely pay off nicely. Due to its presence in so many markets across a geographic region, the operator can roll out its streaming services on a grand scale, and at the same time present tightly curated offerings that cater to the tastes of Caribbean audiences, whose preferences Digicel has had a long time to learn and understand. The availability of Play Go on a variety of platforms should also spur broad-based uptake. On the whole, this sport-intensive offer has all the hallmarks of a winner.  Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.  To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com