iWorld
ABS Group ties up with BSNL for on-demand services
MUMBAI: In a bid to expand its services in a highly competitive environment, the Atul Saraf led ABS Group has lined up a spree of developments. The company, which is all set to launch its MPEG 4 headend, is now strengthening its value added services (VAS) offering.
ABS has entered into an agreement with telecom giant BSNL. As part of this, BSNL’s 10 million broadband subscribers can access the VAS and movies-on-demand services of ABS through its portal www.absplay.in.
“We are working on setting up the servers in the BSNL premise for our value added services,” ABS CMD Atul B Saraf tells Indiantelevision.com.
The portal will go live in August, 2015 after which BSNL broadband subscribers can access the library that contains more than 1000 movies, 60,000 songs and videos and approximately 70-80 web channels. “It is a subscription based model. There will be a revenue share between BSNL and us,” informs Saraf.
The content will range from Bollywood, Hollywood, Tollywood, regional, sports, devotional, comedy, horror, action to music, short length videos and full length videos. While refraining to divulge the pricing of the content, Saraf says, “It will be in a very cost effective manner.”
Close to 25 per cent of the catalogue has been purchased by ABS, while 75 per cent of the content will be on revenue sharing basis with content creators. “We have bought content from both national and international content providers. We will have a revenue share with them,” he informs.
“We saw a gap in the VAS space and so tried to tap into it. This is part of our new revenue generating launches,” says Saraf.
iWorld
OneOTT partners with UP govt for Project GANGA broadband rollout
Initiative to connect 2M plus households, empower 8,000–10,000 entrepreneurs in 2–3 years.
MUMBAI: Uttar Pradesh just got a digital Ganga flow because when broadband meets ambition, even villages start streaming faster than city traffic. OneOTT Intertainment Ltd. (OIL), the broadband arm of Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) under the Hinduja Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Transformation Commission (STC), Government of Uttar Pradesh, for Project GANGA (Government Assisted Network for Growth & Advancement).
The MoU, signed on 7 March 2026 in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Finance & Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, aims to empower 8,000–10,000 local entrepreneurs at the Nyaya Panchayat level as independent Digital Service Providers (DSPs). A significant number of these DSPs are expected to be women. The initiative will deliver high-speed broadband to over 2 million households in the next 2–3 years and create direct and indirect employment for more than 100,000 individuals.
Project GANGA will support government priorities in digital education, healthcare and public services while enabling MSMEs and enterprises with reliable connectivity. DSPs will receive structured training, financing assistance, network build-out support and technology enablement.
STC CEO Manoj Kumar Singh said, “Project GANGA is a significant step toward expanding inclusive digital infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. By empowering local entrepreneurs, the program will strengthen service delivery and ensure affordable digital access for underserved communities.”
OIL, MD & CEO and HGS whole-time director Vynsley Fernandes added, “This initiative reflects our long-term commitment to enabling digital access and economic opportunity at scale. Project GANGA is structured as a multi-year program focused on entrepreneur onboarding, network deployment and workforce development.”
OIL brings execution strength backed by HGS and NXTDIGITAL’s national footprint, which already connects over 5 million homes across more than 4,500 pin codes in 1,500 cities and towns through 15,000 plus franchise partners and over 2 lakh kilometres of fibre infrastructure. The ecosystem will support broadband, IPTV, OTT, CCTV, satellite internet and cybersecurity solutions for households, businesses and public institutions.
In a state racing toward digital inclusion, Project GANGA isn’t just laying cables, it’s laying the foundation for millions to connect, learn, heal and earn, one Nyaya Panchayat at a time.
