iWorld
Hathway, Voda Play to stream YuppTV channels, movies, shows
MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Vodafone’s entertainment destination will contain video content. Vodafone Play has announced a partnership with OTT player for South Asian content YuppTV to make available an extensive basket of live TV channels and movies etc.
YuppTV has also announced a content sharing partnership with the broadband service provider Hathway, which will offer monthly subscription plans for the former.
In addition to popular movies and shows, YuppTV’s prowess in the regional content will enable Vodafone Play to strengthen its content offering, while YuppTV intends to reach out to Vodafone’s wide customer base across India.
Yupp TV has 250+ live TV channels in 14 national and regional languages. The association is in accordance with the advent of small-screen viewership and India’s transition towards a mobile-first economy.
Vodafone India associate director – consumer business Avneesh Khosla said: “With mobiles becoming the preferred screen for entertainment, the average time spent on smartphones daily is significantly higher than TV, demonstrating that the engagement levels provided by smartphones remain unparalleled. Our customers are constantly seeking diverse content options, especially regional content. Through this partnership, Vodafone Play subscribers get a wider choice.”
YuppTV founder and CEO Uday Reddy said: “We are excited to present Vodafone users with our extensive services and entertainment solutions. Now, Vodafone users can simply select from the collection of YuppTV’s snackable content on-the-go.”
“The entertainment control has shifted to the consumers who can decide what they want to watch at their convenience on multiple devices. The key is high-speed broadband and affordable price point,” Hathway MD Rajan Gupta said in a statement.
While Vodafone and Hathway are spread across India, YuppTV has an enviable collection of entertaining content in multiple languages.
iWorld
Telcos push for unified rules as spam shifts to OTT platforms
Over 80 per cent fraud moves online, operators seek common framework.
MUMBAI: The spam may have left your phone network but it hasn’t left you alone. India’s telecom operators are once again dialling up the pressure for a unified regulatory framework, warning that fraud is rapidly migrating to internet-based platforms where oversight remains far looser. According to industry communication, a leading operator has written to multiple arms of the government including the Department of Telecommunications, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance arguing that tighter controls on traditional telecom networks are inadvertently pushing bad actors towards over-the-top (OTT) communication platforms.
The concern is not new, but the framing has sharpened. What was once an industry grievance is now being positioned as a consumer protection issue. Operators say that tackling spam in silos no longer works, as fraudsters seamlessly shift across platforms, exploiting regulatory gaps. The result: a moving target that traditional safeguards struggle to contain.
Executives point to a clear shift in fraud patterns. OTT platforms are increasingly being used for phishing links, impersonation scams and bulk unsolicited messaging, with industry estimates suggesting that over 80 per cent of spam activity has now migrated online. In this environment, the lines between telecom networks, messaging apps and financial fraud are blurring fast.
At the heart of the industry’s demand is a call for a technology-neutral regulatory framework, one that applies consistently across telecom and internet-based communication services. Operators argue that the absence of uniform safeguards, such as sender verification systems, robust spam filters and clearly defined accountability mechanisms, has created enforcement blind spots that fraudsters are quick to exploit.
The proposal is straightforward but far-reaching. Telcos are pushing for baseline anti-fraud measures across all communication platforms, alongside faster response systems and deeper coordination between ministries. Given the interconnected nature of telecom networks, digital platforms and financial systems, they argue that fragmented oversight only weakens the overall defence.
The broader issue is regulatory arbitrage, the ability of bad actors to hop between platforms based on which is least regulated at any given time. Without harmonised rules, operators say, efforts to curb fraud risk becoming a game of whack-a-mole.
As digital communication continues to expand, the debate is shifting from who regulates what to how consistently it is regulated. For now, telecom operators are making their case clear: in a world where spam travels freely, regulation cannot afford to stay fragmented.
