NEW DELHI: Bangalore-based over-the-top (OTT) player Lukup Media has applied for a Multi system Operator (MSO) licence primarily to encourage consumers having a digital set top box to use OTT services.

At present there is lower-than-expected demand for OTT service but the company expects that after acquiring MSO and Internet Service Provider (ISP) licences, it will be able to expand its OTT services.  The main reason for lower demand of OTT service is that customers who already own a digital TV STB do not wish to pay extra for OTT services.

Last year, the company had started signing contracts with local cable operators and has signed with 200 operators with a total base of 1.8 million homes. 

Lukup Media founder CEO Kallol Bora said that the company was looking at investing a sum of Rs 100 - 120 crore to roll out its services in first eight cities.

The company will launch its bundled services in three phases. While the first phase will cover Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, the second phase will cover Delhi NCR and Gujarat. In the third phase, the company will cover 47 cities with over one million population. 

Lukup Media has also signed a deal with Widevine for integrating DRM solution. Widevine’s DRM solution provides the capability to license, distribute and protect playback of content on any consumer device. 

Lukup can provide now access of protected content to its customers. The content including movies, music and television shows can be accessed to any device even in congested networks.