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ona TV, an over-the-top (OTT) mobile application company, is optimistic about joining the competition in the video-on-demand industry in Indonesia as it officially launched its services in Jakarta this month.

The company, formally PT Oona Media Indonesia, partnered with Metranet, a subsidiary of state-owned telecommunications firm Telekomunikasi Indonesia, enabling the former to utilize the latter’s digital infrastructure and customer base, said CEO Noerman Taufik.

Noerman said the collaboration would last for at least three years, and the company would then assess the market before deciding on future plans.

However, Noerman declined to elaborate on the investment value of the project, saying that the value was in “the billions of rupiah”.

Metranet CEO Widi Nugroho said his company supported 75 percent of the investment value, while the remaining 25 percent was contributed by Oona Media Indonesia.

Users of Oona TV will be able to watch free shows from over 150 channels starting on Sept. 20 and is available on both Apple Store and Google Play.

According to recent reports, Oona Media Indonesia targeted at least 2 million active users by the end of this year.

Data from Oona TV’s business team suggests that more viewers watch TV channels on its platform than its peers. As of Sept. 17, the most watched channel was local TV station TVOne, with 156,580 users watching live over seven consecutive days, the data showed.

With the rising popularity of the online streaming of TV channels, IT experts said such a business would remain profitable even if they offered consumers free-of-charge services for a certain period.

IT analyst Agung Harsono said the practice of providing internet access without costs under certain conditions was “subsidization by advertising”.

“The good thing is the cooperation with cellular telecommunications operators, so that they can be zero-rated, or at least there are special rates for other people to access Oona TV [or other platforms],” he said.

Agung said he was optimistic with the prospect of online TV streaming as Indonesians were among the fastest adopters of OTT services, similar to their neighbors in Southeast Asia.

Separately, Acha Salim, Singapore-based spokesperson of social video company Brave Bison, which is also collaborating with Oona TV, said the best possible course of action for online TV streaming would be revenue-sharing schemes with partners, adding that advertising also played a major role in generating revenue.

To ensure that viewers clicked on ads displayed on its platform, Oona TV offers points rewards called t-Coins, which can be used for online shopping and other e-commerce services.

On the t-Coins feature, Oona TV’s business team told The Jakarta Post that it was part of the sharing economy as users can obtain points that can be redeemed for discounted prices at their chosen online marketplaces, while merchants would also benefit. (acr)