United News of Bangladesh

Bangladeshi streaming platform Toffee has come under fire as it failed to provide smooth and uninterrupted coverage of the opening match of the FIFA World Cup for hundreds of football fans. Many have reportedly lodged complaints with the Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection against the platform. While millions of fans around the world celebrated the tournament's kickoff, many viewers in Bangladesh experienced severe technical difficulties while trying to watch the match through Toffee, a freemium video streaming and digital entertainment platform owned by Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd. Subscribers alleged that they faced lengthy delays throughout the registration process. Many users reported waiting nearly 40 minutes to receive one-time passwords (OTP) required for account verification, followed by an additional 30-minute delay in obtaining payment links. Even after completing the subscription process, viewers said the livestreaming frequently froze, with videos stopping every few seconds and repeatedly displaying loading screens. The disruptions affected a large number of users during Thursday night's opening match, prompting widespread criticism on social media. Frustrated subscribers complained that despite paying for access, they were unable to watch the game properly. Industry observers noted that companies involved in World Cup broadcasting had invested heavily in acquiring broadcasting rights and launched extensive promotional campaigns to attract subscribers ahead of the tournament. However, many consumers questioned whether sufficient investments had been made in technical infrastructure to handle the anticipated surge in viewership. "Not everything should be allowed to pass without accountability. Although Tk 99 may seem like a small amount for one subscriber, I believe they have collected more than Tk 200 crore from subscribers. Everyone should file complaints," said Anisur Rahman, a Toffee user. Md Joy Hasan Nil, another Toffee subscriber, said he had filed a complaint against the platform, alleging that users had faced a similar experience during the 2022 World Cup. He said many subscribers were students who had spent their hard-earned money to purchase access to the service. Calling on other affected users to come forward, he said he had shared instructions on how to file complaints with the authorities. “If consumers do not raise their voices, the company will never improve. They will continue to benefit while ordinary customers suffer,” Nil said, urging all subscribers who purchased access to lodge formal complaints, as many of the tournament’s high-profile matches are yet to be played. Critics argued that the World Cup schedule had been known years in advance, providing ample time for service providers to prepare their platforms for increased traffic. They said the inability to deliver uninterrupted service after collecting subscription fees amounted to a failure to meet commitments made to customers. As the platform holds exclusive digital streaming rights in the country, viewers have limited alternatives, making questions of accountability and consumer protection even more significant. In a statement posted on its Facebook page, Toffee attributed the disruption to issues related to the digital broadcast feed. “Due to complications with the digital broadcast feed, interruptions are occurring in the livestreaming of the World Cup. We are working tirelessly with Bangladesh Television (BTV), the broadcast rights holder, to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and will provide further updates soon,” the platform said. Launched in November 2019, Toffee operates as both a live TV and sports streaming application as well as a content creator platform across mobile devices and smart TVs in Bangladesh. Football fans have expressed hope that streaming platforms will ensure uninterrupted coverage of upcoming matches. Many also believe that if such failures continue, affected subscribers should receive appropriate compensation or refunds for services they were unable to use.

A record 15.5 million unique viewers watched the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022's final on Toffee, the only digital entertainment app which livestreamed the mega sports event in Bangladesh. Also, Toffee hit a new milestone garnering around 1 billion views of the mega sports event. Football fans across the country turned to Toffee to enjoy every World Cup match, starting from November 18 to December 18. For the first time in Bangladesh, millions of viewers have opted for a digital platform to watch the tournament, which was previously only broadcast on TV. Read more: World Cup's Round of 16 watched by over 25 million viewers on Toffee Banglalink acquired the exclusive rights to become the licenced mobile broadcaster of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and livestreamed the sports event through Toffee. Also, it partnered with Google for streaming scalability and implementing organic search results as well. Erik Aas, chief executive officer of Banglalink, said: "As a future-ready digital service provider, we addressed the shift in people's sports consumption habits and offered a personalised viewing experience on Toffee." "The massive turnout of viewers is another sign of our growing prominence as a digital operator."

Over 25 million viewers watched the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022's Round of 16 on Toffee, the only digital entertainment app live streaming the mega sports event in Bangladesh. Football fans from all across the country can enjoy World Cup matches on Toffee from any network. "World Cup streaming has proved to be a compelling digital operator service and demonstrates the huge potential for digital entertainment on mobile devices," Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of VEON Group and chairman of the Board of Banglalink, said. "For the first time in history, football fans in Bangladesh can watch their much-loved sport from a device of their choice wherever they are in the country," he added. Read: Toffee set to livestream FIFA World Cup Qatar'2022 beginning on Sunday Erik Aas, chief executive officer of Banglalink, said: "We introduced the World Cup live streaming facility on Toffee to offer a superior quality viewing experience to millions of football fans in Bangladesh. Their overwhelming responses show the extent of our success in this endeavour." "We expect to see more views per match with the tournament reaching the more exciting quarter-final stage."

Banglalink has acquired the exclusive rights to become the licensed mobile broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 through a sub-licensing agreement with K Sports.Toffee, the largest digital entertainment platform in Bangladesh powered by Banglalink, will live stream the sports event as the exclusive digital platform in the country.The announcement was made at a press conference held at Banglalink head office Tiger’s Den in Gulshan here on Thursday. Read More: Who Will Perform in Qatar World Cup Opening Ceremony?Upanga Dutta, Chief Commercial Officer of Banglalink, Taimur Rahman, Chief Corporate & Regulatory Affairs Officer of Banglalink and Fahad Mohammed Ahmed Karim, Chief Executive Officer of K Sports, were present on the occasion.Football lovers from across the country will be able to watch the livestream of all the FIFA World Cup matches on Toffee from any network, Toffee app is available on both Google Play and App Store for download.The exciting football actions can also be watched on https://toffeelive.com/ and Toffee’s Android TV app. Read More: Brazil Team Analysis for 2022 World Cup in QatarUpanga Dutta, Chief Commercial Officer of Banglalink, said, “We are happy to partner with K Sports for bringing this global sporting event to our digital platform. Through this facility, we are giving digitally enabled Bangladeshi consumers the opportunity to enjoy a personalized experience of watching the World Cup, This is the first-of-its-kind experience for them to watch World Cup matches on a mobile platform from anywhere and on the go. We are confident that our consumers will get superior streaming experiences with Banglalink’s best 4G speed in the country".In order to enable all football lovers to enjoy this beautiful game, we plan to keep this stream service open to all networks. They can also watch it on large screens with Toffee android TV app.” he added.Fahad Mohammed Ahmed Karim, Chief Executive Officer of K Sports, said, “As the digital broadcasting rights holders for FIFA World Cup 2022, it is a great pleasure to sign the agreement with Banglalink for this initiative. Read More: Argentina Squad analysis for 2022 World Cup in Qatar"Toffee is the right fit for livestreaming a mega event like World Cup Football because of its wide user-base and smooth streaming experiences. It is an exciting opportunity for our football lovers to watch the livestream of World Cup matches in a convenient way.” he further said.Banglalink will also provide various special offers for its subscribers during this global event.

Telecom operator Banglalink has introduced monetisation on its Toffee platform at "Toffee Con," an assembly of popular content creators, at a hotel in Dhaka. Three hundred content creators from all over Bangladesh participated in the event. Toffee introduced the monetisation opportunity on its user-generated content platform for content creators. Read Banglalink skill development programme: 'Digirevolution' Season 1 ends State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak attended the event as the chief guest. Upanga Dutta, chief commercial officer of Banglalink, said: "Along with expanding the fastest 4G network across the country, we are now focusing on bringing quality digital services and enhancing them with advanced features." "I am confident that Toffee's monetisation facility will empower young content creators by opening up earning opportunities for them."   Read: Banglalink introduces online stay-home-concert on Toffee platform

Banglalink is going to introduce the largest online stay-home-concert ever held in the country on its digital entertainment platform ‘Toffee’.