Starz Play by Cinepax will offer customers in Pakistan thousands of hours of hit Pakistani, Hollywood, Bollywood and children’s content, accessible via iOS and Android platforms as well as Apple and Windows web browsers.

“This landmark joint venture with Cinepax marks Starz Play’s first launch outside the MENA region and will elevate our potential consumer reach from 350 million to over 500 million,” said Maaz Sheikh (pictured), co-founder and CEO of Dubai-based Starz Play.

“We’ve been looking forward to launching in Pakistan for a while; and a partnership with such a well-known name in the entertainment industry as Cinepax is the perfect way to kick off an exciting relationship with our customers in the country. This partnership will also help our studio partners in legitimising such a heavily-pirated market.”

Arif Baigmohamad, chairman, Cinepax Group, added: “While Cinepax has a superb reputation for entertaining our Pakistani audience with an impressive supply of movies, our partnership with Starz Play will help to strengthen our growing movie business and allow customers to live stream top content from a number of different devices. Starz Play by Cinepax is a compelling business opportunity to provide a high quality Starz Play service for both the mass and premium market segments”.

Starz Play announced the deal while strengthening its partnerships with Pakistan telcos Jazz and PTCL. Flexible payment options will now be available for Starz Play subscribers in Pakistan when accessing the SVOD service via Jazz Mobile Balance.

“In an increasingly digital world, Jazz’s priority is to provide its 55 million plus subscribers with digital services and content. Our partnership with Starz Play will boost the entertainment portfolio offered by Jazz through a convenient, easy-to-use service offering high quality video content,” said Babar Ahmed, head of products & services at Jazz.