ClipTV - an over-the-top app. Vietnam needs to raise an appropriate legal framework to promote the development of OTT media services in the context that the Government was striving to build a digital economy (Photo: cafef.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamneeded to build a legal framework to promote the development ofover-the-top (OTT) media services as the Government strives tobuild a digital economy and accelerate digital transformation, expertshave said.
Nguyen Quang Dong, Director of the Institute forPolicy Studies and Media Development, said OTT media services, includingvideo-on-demand (VOD), were different from traditional broadcastingservices, so required a different management framework.
Dong said that a separate decree should bedeveloped for OTT and VOD services.
According to Konstantin Matthies from marketresearch and strategy consultancy company Alpha Beta, Vietnam could become acentre for digital content production in the region, if a favourableenvironment for OTT, especially VOD, was created.
He cited a report saying that investmentsin VOD services would reach an estimated 10.1 billion USD in Asia in 2020(3.7 times higher than spending in 2017), adding this sum was expected togenerate a value three times higher.
For Vietnam, VOD would bring a number of benefitsand opportunities, especially directly stimulating the development of thecountry’s film industry and helping Vietnam become one of the leadingcountries for film industry development in Southeast Asia by 2020 and in Asiaby 2030, he said.
According to the Vietnam Pay TelevisionAssociation Tran Van Uy, local pay television channels need a fair playingground with cross-border OTT services providers in Vietnam.
He said foreign OTT services providers must alsocomply with local regulations, adding that it was unreasonable that domesticproviders had to comply with regulations while foreign providers did not.
Nguyen Ngoc Lanh, Deputy Director of VTCDigital, said it was still difficult to manage the compliance of tax andcontent regulations of cross-border OTT service providers in Vietnam.
Lanh also pointed out that average revenueper user for pay television in Vietnam remained low, so many localproviders faced losses and did not have the money to invest in content, leadingto harsh competition from foreign providers.
He stressed that a level playing field should becreated for both domestic and foreign OTT services providers.
According to Nguyen Le Tan from VTC Television,investing in OTT services is an unavoidable trend but most domestic providersare now incurring losses.
For the success of OTT services, a good internetplatform and appropriate support from the Government were necessary,besides interesting content, Tan said. However, the legal framework for OTTservices in Vietnam needed to be improved.
A report by the Asia Video IndustryAssociation pointed out that copyright infringements were also a problemthat was hindering the development of domestic OTTservice providers.
The Ministry of Communications and Informationis considering amendments to Decree 2016/2016/ND-CP about managing broadcastingservices, including policies for OTT media services. –VNS/VNA
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