Virgin Media Ireland’s parent company, Liberty Global, has agreed a €1.5 billion deal with Infosys for the Indian software services company to “evolve and scale” its digital entertainment and connectivity platforms using artificial intelligence (AI).
The five-year agreement means Infosys will provide services to the London-headquartered Liberty Global using its “AI first” offering, Infosys Topaz.
The company will take over the build and operations of Liberty Global’s Horizon-powered set-top boxes. The technology underpins Virgin’s pay-TV service in the Irish market, though its newer boxes are no longer branded Horizon.
Liberty Global, which is controlled by Irish-American billionaire John Malone, said the collaboration would ensure “a highly scalable development engine for new features and capabilities” and deliver efficiencies to the company.
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The deal has the option to be extended to eight years “and beyond”, with the contract valued at €2.3 billion if it runs beyond.
Liberty Global already had an existing partnership with Infosys, which it signed in February 2020. The new partnership, which will see 400 employees join Infosys, will also see the cable giant license its platforms so the digital services provider can extend them to “new operators and new markets outside the Liberty Global family”, they said.
“This will potentially enable millions of new customers, around the world, to experience next-generation digital entertainment and connectivity services through Horizon for the first time,” they said.
Liberty Global will continue to control product roadmaps and retain all intellectual property for the Horizon entertainment and connectivity platforms.
“We look forward to working together to accelerate innovation and make our entertainment solutions even more powerful and engaging as new generations of digital-first customers continue to demand more from us all,” said Liberty Global chief executive, Mike Fries.
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Infosys chief executive, Salil Parekh, said the AI offering would “unveil a new chapter in our joint journey of innovation as we reimagine entertainment and the connectivity experience” for millions of customers.
Liberty Global has had a presence in Ireland since 2005, when it acquired what was then known as NTL – the former Cablelink company. It initially rebranded as UPC but two years after its 2013 acquisition of Virgin Media in the UK, the Irish operation was rebranded as Virgin.
Broadcaster TV3 Group, acquired by Virgin Media in 2015, rebranded to Virgin Media Television in 2018.
Alongside Virgin Media Ireland and what is now Virgin Media O2 in the UK, Liberty Global also owns VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands, Telenet in Belgium, Sunrise in Switzerland and UPC in Slovakia.
