Telecommunications operator Oi is to close its streaming platform Oi Play, which will be in operation only until December 31. The news was confirmed by the company first to Brazilian website Tecnoblog and then to other local media.
Oi Play was born in 2015 as a TV Everywhere service for the company’s Pay TV subscribers. Over the years, the OTT grew in content and at the same time it broadened its goals and business models. The platform currently operates as a TV Everywhere service, as a TVOD service (users may choose a title and rent it), as a value added service (at no additional cost) for mobile and fixed Internet customers, as a streaming Pay TV service and it also commercializes third parties’ OTT services. The last two business models mentioned above are available to subscribers and non-subscribers alike.
Customers are being given notice of the close of the platform and sales have already been discontinued. According to Tecnoblog, Oi explained that measures were being taken to increase the company’s operational efficiency. Traditional Pay TV services (Satellite TV and fiber optic IPTV) will remain in operation. Oi spokespeople noted that commercialization agreements with other streaming platforms such as Globoplay, Paramount+ and HBO Max would remain in force.