TVBEurope: Continuing to operate during a war

TVBEurope meets inext chief commercial officer Pavel Sidorov to find out how the company is continuing to operate and grow in the midst of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

BY JENNY PRIESTLEY PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

Having entered the Android set-top box market in December 2011, inext works with media companies in its home market of Ukraine, as well as Moldova, Kazakhstan, Georgia and India.

The company specialises in developing and manufacturing Android STBs and media players for both B2B and B2C markets, with customers including OTT, IPTV and DVB operators, multimedia and middleware platforms, and digital signage platforms.

For obvious reasons, the company has been operating under extreme pressure over recent months, but inext chief commercial officer Pavel Sidorov tells TVBEurope the entire team is safe and working as usual.

"We've spread critical IT infrastructure across three continents to keep users and customers as secure as possible," he adds. "We've opened a representation company in the EU. Our stocks are full of products and we are ready for new projects."

The core inext team remains in Ukraine, while the company recently established a new European presence in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Sidorov adds that the media industry in Ukraine was very active before Russia's invasion, as Ukraine has the cheapest internet in Europe. "It is motivating many media companies to create new products, such as OTT services and media devices (set-top boxes, smart TVs, apps for TV etc.)," he adds. "Unfortunately, war has changed plans, but the media industry is still a major sphere in the country. The rules of the market are changing; all players are working to win this war."

"Some companies in Ukraine no longer exist, because their areas of operation were destroyed along with their equipment. However, internet providers have become critical infrastructure," Sidorov continues. "People watch internet TV, browse social media, watch DVB-T2 and DVB-S. We are concentrating our efforts on current projects (support and new devices) and looking for new opportunities in the EU."

Asked how he sees the future of the company, Sidorov states the team is spending a significant part of its efforts on finding interesting projects and clients in the EU and sees the company's future on the European market. "We are working hard on developing new products for both local and foreign markets," he adds. "These products include new devices as well as new online services like our device management system — inext Alcatraz."

This text is republished with the approval of TVBEurope.

Original source on TVBEurope: https://www.tvbeurope.com/business/continuing-to-operate-during-a-war-ukraines-inext-keeps-growing-in-uncertain-times