Starzplay launches services in Pakistan

The UAE-based online streaming platform Starzplay Arabia has launched its streaming services in Pakistan.

Starzplay has joined hands with Cinepax, Pakistan's cinema chain that is currently running 13 cinemas in nine cities across the country. “This has been part of our plans for a while. We’ve partnered with the telecom providers here in [Pakistan],” said Maaz Sheikh, CEO of Starzplay Arabia, quoted Arabian Business.

Speaking about the currency depreciation in Pakistan, which has lost more than 20 percent of its value after being devalued four times over the year, Maaz said that this has been a hurdle the business has to undergo.

However, a large number of customers in the Pakistani market offset the risks of expansion, said Sheikh. “It is difficult as a start-up to simply increase our price points. So we don’t anticipate doing that even after the devaluations. But these markets have populations in excess of 100 million and 200 million people. And right now we have enough cash reserves in the bank to see our plans through,” he said.

In 2016, Netflix Inc, the US-based streaming giant entered Pakistan as it moves to enlarge its Internet TV network to more than 190 countries around the globe.