AT&T To Snap Up Video Streaming Platform Company

AT&T said Monday that it plans to acquire Quickplay Media, a video streaming service company. AT&T Entertainment Group CEO John Stankey said the acquisition would help customers stream their video content to any device, including mobile phones.

’Our strategy is to deliver video content however, whenever and wherever,’ said Stankey in a statement. ’Quickplay’s multitenant IP distribution infrastructure, combined with AT&T’s leading scale in IP connected endpoints, will allow us to host and distribute all forms of video traffic. We intend to scale and operate an industry-leading video distribution platform, and viewers will get the high-quality online video viewing experience they desire.’

[Related: CRN Cloud Services Roundtable: Where Is The Biggest Cloud Opportunity For Solution Providers?]

AT&T, which had previously used Quickplay for its U-verse TV Everything offering, will now use Quickplay's portfolio for its new TV streaming services, including DirecTV Now, DirecTV Mobile and DirecTV Preview.

In the past, Quickplay had serviced Verizon, as well as Vodafone and HOOQ -- a joint venture product between Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and the Singtel Group.

The acquisition comes as pay TV providers are working to shift their customer base from cable to Internet-powered streaming services that have capabilities to work on any mobile device -- including Comcast’s Watchable and Verizon’s go90.

Douglas Grosfield, founder and CEO of Five Nines IT Solutions, a Kitchener, Ontario-based strategic service provider, said the acquisition would help AT&T as it faces increased competition in the streaming services space.

’Telcos and cellular providers [are] investing in supplementary services to get stickier with their clients. Bandwidth is getting cheaper and infrastructure is being built at a frantic pace,’ he said. ’Services such as Netflix ... have had a great run, with every TV provider jumping on the bandwagon for streaming content. It brings to mind the thought that it will be interesting to see how these business plays relate to things like their virtual reality and augmented reality strategies, an evolving sector in entertainment markets."

Terms and pricing for the acquisition of the 350-employee company were not disclosed.