Sam Media partners Apigate to launch digital product offerings

By Digital News Asia August 14, 2018

Digital content services have already been activated with Celcom in Malaysia
Products are enabled by Apigate’s Direct Carrier Billing API

Sam Media partners Apigate to launch digital product offerings

KUALA Lumpur-headquartered Sam Media announces its partnership with Apigate, to explore new opportunities in Over-The-Top (OTT) media services across the Asia Pacific region.

Enabled by Apigate’s Direct Carrier Billing API, Sam Media will introduce a range of digital products such as mobile apps, video and music streaming services, mobile learning products, and mobile games tailored to meet the increasing demand from Apigate’s 350 million users in the region.

Specialising in content monetisation and digital marketing, Sam Media also plans to invest RM32.46 million (US$8 million) in product development, marketing and data science over the next three years.

The investment will enable mutual benefits from the audience scale of both partners, support faster delivery of services and provide richer content to a wide audience segment.

Digital content services have already been activated with Celcom in Malaysia, Dialog in Sri Lanka and Smart Axiata in Cambodia.

Sam Media chief executive officer Alexis Bartelds, said "The mobile segment in Asia Pacific will continue to grow as an increasing number of Over-The-Top media service players are interested in the region. As credit card penetration is still limited, we see great opportunities to leverage Direct Carrier Billing, which offers consumers a secure and convenient payment solution.”

In 2017, Direct Carrier Billing accounted for 17.4% of the region’s payment methods for digital gaming, with an average transaction value of RM10.55 (US$2.60).

Mobile network operators (MNOs) within Apigate’s footprint will now be able to add greater value by offering their end-users easy access to digital content that can be paid for via mobile phone bills.

Apigate chief executive officer Zoran Vasiljev, said “Digital merchants are increasingly relying on telco channels for user acquisition, payments and loyalty. The partnership between Sam Media and Apigate is able to give them access to these channels at scale, by enabling global expansion through one integration.

“We are excited to integrate with Sam Media, a content monetisation specialist in the region, to create increased reach and revenue for all stakeholders in our ecosystem.”

There are currently 3.1 billion users on Apigate’s global network, comprising more than 110 mobile network operators across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Latin America.