Etisalat has launched 'Internet TV' in association with MBC, to provide television content over the Internet.

The deal will enable online viewing of Top 9 programs being aired by MBC during the month of Ramadan through the satellite and mobile TV. MBC began using the Etisalat 'Internet TV' from September 10, on www.mbc.net portal.

A first such initiative in the region, the Internet TV will change the way broadcasters showcase content and customers view content.

Internet TV will enable hundreds of millions of MBC viewers around the world to view their favourite programs online, in case they missed them when they were aired or simply want to watch them again. The customers can select the videos from the website – www.mbc.net/ramadan – and watch the program online, at no charge.

'We believe that Internet TV will not only create a paradigm shift in the way broadcasters showcase content and customers view content, it will also create a new customer segments of the future – the online customer, the mobile customer and the interactive customer,' said Essa Al Haddad, chief marketing officer, Etisalat. 

'This partnership between mbc group and Etisalat marks the deal’s regional if not global significance. It is an alliance between two of the biggest companies in media and telecom respectively which aims to provide special content over the internet during the month of Ramadan,' said Dr Ammar Bakkar, head of New Media at MBC Group.

The Internet TV solution, also known as the 'Over-The-Top' video distribution, gives broadcasters and content owners the ability to upload their videos onto the Etisalat network, manage their content and ensure effective content delivery through mobile phones, PC or notebook, television, and even kiosks.-TradeArabia News Service