Cisco Videoscape Enables Premium Programming Services for beIN SPORTS in Over 20 Countries

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 21, 2015 – Cisco announced that global sports pay-TV provider, beIN SPORTS, has selected the Cisco Videoscape TV services delivery platform to deliver advanced sports video experiences across 20+ countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Cisco provides software & hardware solutions, along with prime system integration services to beIN SPORTS to help support millions of new subscriptions across MENA.

beIN SPORTS, launched in January 2014, is the leader in premium and exclusive sports content across a vast region spanning North Africa, Middle East. It is jointly owned and operated by Qatari Sports Investments.

Highlights

• The platform uses Cisco’s VideoGuard conditional access system (CAS), Cisco MediaHighway middleware, Cisco digital video recorder (DVR) and user interface (UI) technologies to give users an exceptional experience when watching beIN SPORTS content.
• beIN SPORTS offer a variety of high definition set-top boxes from multiple manufacturers, all enabled by Cisco software and security solutions, ranging from a low-end zapper to a mid-range DVR, and a high-end media gateway enabled by Cisco middleware with a common, advanced user interface.

Supporting Quotes:

• Yousef Mohammed Al-Obaidly, Deputy CEO beIN SPORTS

​​“Consumer appetite for new video experiences and a connected lifestyle is developing so rapidly in the MENA region.  It is opportune that we have teamed with Cisco to help us remain competitive by delivering new and exciting services faster than ever before. With premium content security top of our agenda, Cisco Videoscape can provide an open, flexible and fully secure platform that will reduce barriers to innovation and time to market. The first boxes launched in March, 2014 and we will continue to roll out many more high-end boxes throughout this next year.”

• Yves Padrines, Vice President, Cable Media & Video, Cisco, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia

​​“Security and protecting valuable premium sports programming is of vital importance to beIN SPORTS. Utilizing the Cisco Videoscape platform allow beIN SPORTS to provide a secure and flexible foundation for launching more personalized, synchronized, and social video experiences that their subscribers in the MENA region want and expect.”

Supporting Resources:

• About Cisco Videoscape: http://www.cisco.com/go/videoscape
• Middle East News:  http://www.cisco.com/web/ME/about/news/index.html

About beIN SPORTS:

beIN SPORTS is a leading global sports network broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa (in 24 countries), France, USA, Canada, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.

beIN SPORTS MENA is a multi-sports channel providing exclusive access to prime sporting competitions including: FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, football leagues from Europe including Spain’s La Liga, England’s Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, German’s League Bundesliga; CAN, AFC Champions League and AFC Asian Cup, African Cup of Nations.  Across the world’s other most popular sports, tennis (including French Open, US Open, Australian Open), basketball (NBA), motorsports (MotoGP, Dakar Rally, NASCAR), cycling (Tour de France), rugby (Six Nations) handball (Qatar 2015) and gymnastics. For more details visit: http://www.en.beinsports.net/

About Cisco:

Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO, news, filings) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com

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