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OTT opportunities emerge in South Asia as 2Mbps+ broadband subs set to double by 2017
MUMBAI: Apple finally opened its iTunes Store in India in December, joining services such as BigFlix, NyooTV, Eros Now, hungama and DittoTV from Zee New Media. In Malaysia, pay-TV provider Astro has launched Astro-on-the-Go to compete with TonTon, Maaduu, DETV and Fine TV.
But will flagging broadband speeds prove an insurmountable barrier for the development of OTT in the region? To answer this question, Farncombe undertook a study of the broadband markets in five key SEA developing countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Farncombe analysed fixed and mobile broadband service offers, technologies, nominal and actual bitrates and pricing plans.
The company is a professional services firm offering technical and strategic support across all digital media sectors, with a focus on TV. Farncombe‘s study shows that around 30 per cent of the existing fixed broadband residential subscriptions offer speeds that are equal to or higher than 2Mbps – the threshold required by many OTT service providers for delivering video content to connected devices, including TVs.
The company forecasts that this percentage will reach almost 50 per cent by the end of 2017 – with more than 25m fixed broadband connections ? 2Mbps across the six countries by then. India will lead, accounting for 28 per cent of the households in this segment, followed by Vietnam and Thailand.
Farncombe‘s research shows that ADSL technology will remain the dominant fixed broadband technology in the region, but its share will drop from 84 per cent in 2012 to 65 per cent in 2017.
Cable (especially in India) and FTTx will gradually increase their presence in the main cities and will increase with CAGR 2013-17 of 31 per cent and 36 per cent respectively. Wireless Broadband Access (mostly WiMax) and other technologies (e.g. Satellite, Ethernet, etc. ) will remain niche alternatives with limited market shares.
Malaysia emerges in top position in terms of FTTx connections across the six SEA territories, with the average download bitrates increasing at a CAGR of 25 per cent in the final three years to 2017. However, the average bitrates in India, Indonesia and Vietnam are increasing at a CAGR of less than 10 per cent , bringing the average regional speed up to just 1.5Mbps by the end of last year.
Most fixed broadband plans now include unlimited usage, unlike mobile packages, which are typically ‘capped‘ – an issue that still inhibits OTT usage over mobile broadband. Farncombe compared fixed and mobile broadband costs by looking at how much each charged ‘per Mbps‘, taking into account actual bitrates and mobile usage caps. The company found that on average mobile broadband users would have to cap their monthly use at 1-3Gb to obtain the same ‘per Mbps‘ price-performance as a fixed plan.
Similar results were derived across all six markets, demonstrating that despite the significant increase in mobile broadband users – which we expect to reach nearly 0.5 billion subscribers by 2017 with a CAGR of 37% across the six countries – fixed broadband remains a much more cost-effective choice for video use.
As competing two-way platforms will require substantial up-front investment, especially for countries with challenging landscapes like India, Indonesia and the Philippines, OTT platforms can offer significant opportunities for players in these regions to reach audiences and capture market share more cost-effectively and with tighter launch-schedules.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
