How streaming delivery is evolving with multicast-ABR and media over QUIC

Modern streaming demands greater efficiency, cost control, and performance.

Operators across Asia are under increasing pressure to diversify revenues and defend their share of consumer spend, as video becomes a key driver of broadband value.

Although direct-to-consumer streaming services like Netflix or Apple TV are playing an increasingly dominant role in the household subscription mix, operators are using this as an opportunity to accelerate bundling and aggregation strategies, positioning themselves at the centre of the streaming ecosystem.

This shift is particularly evident in high-growth markets like India, where the over-the-top (OTT) sector is maturing rapidly. According to the latest FICCI-EY media and entertainment report, video subscription revenues reached INR163b (US$1.721) in 2025, marking a 60% increase.

Much of this growth is driven by bundling and pricing innovation, with an estimated 71% of subscriptions now bundled through telecom and aggregator partnerships. Across the region, operators are expanding aggregation models. In Malaysia, for example, CelcomDigi recently extended its StreamMORE offering to include Sooka, alongside services such as Prime Video and Disney+, strengthening its position as a digital entertainment hub.

At the same time, streaming platforms continue to drive subscription growth and generate record live audiences, increasing pressure on network infrastructure. Telecom operators underpin the delivery of these experiences. They’re central to how streaming scales. New technologies and business models give them a unique playbook to turn this challenge into long-term growth.

Rethinking CDN strategy for the streaming era
Video content delivery network (CDN) strategy has long been driven by scale alone, with operators expanding their footprint to meet rising traffic demand. Today’s reality is different: Modern streaming demands greater emphasis on efficiency, cost control, sustainability, and performance under peak conditions. Open and hybrid CDN models are gaining traction, allowing operators to combine their own infrastructure with commercial CDN capacity. This enables more efficient delivery paths, improved caching closer to end users, and reduced reliance on external providers, resulting in better quality of experience and lower delivery costs.

For instance, a Malaysian content and entertainment company enhanced its hybrid CDN approach by introducing edge caching within its ISP network, improving streaming performance for fibre broadband customers whilst reducing delivery costs and energy consumption. This type of approach is becoming increasingly popular, helping operators optimise delivery whilst improving efficiency. These models also support a more compelling role in the value chain for telcos, enabling them to deliver content on behalf of streaming providers with higher quality and favourable economics.

The end result? Operators become more attractive partners for content owners – and offer better experiences to end users.

Managing streaming at scale with multicast ABR
Live streaming is now one of the biggest drivers of network demand, and one of the hardest to manage. High-profile sports and entertainment events can generate massive concurrent audiences, pushing traditional delivery models to their limits.

Unicast delivery, which sends a separate stream to each viewer, becomes highly inefficient at scale. It drives up bandwidth usage, increases the risk of congestion, and makes costs harder to predict. Multicast adaptive bitrate streaming (m-ABR) offers a more scalable alternative. By delivering a single stream to multiple users across the network, it dramatically reduces bandwidth requirements whilst still supporting adaptive bitrate streaming and personalised viewing experiences.

Operators saw reduced network traffic by 80 to 90% by implementing m-ABR, whilst gaining improved network stability during major live events, and significantly lower delivery costs. As adoption grows, mABR is becoming a core, future-proof component of live streaming infrastructure.

Where Media over QUIC (MoQ) fits
At the same time, the industry is exploring new approaches to improve latency and responsiveness in video delivery, with Media over QUIC (MoQ) emerging as a promising option for real-time streaming. Unlike traditional streaming methods that rely on multi-second segments, MoQ enables delivery in smaller media objects, helping streams respond more quickly to changing network conditions and better support low-latency experiences.

Built on QUIC, which runs over user datagram protocol (UDP), this approach avoids the delays typically associated with transmission control protocol (TCP)-based delivery when packets are lost. Instead of interrupting the entire stream, playback can continue with only minor visual impact, as players are designed to mask imperfections without introducing additional delay.

Importantly, MoQ is not intended to replace existing ABR workflows, but to complement them, particularly in scenarios where ultra-low latency is critical, such as live sports, betting, or interactive formats. For operators, MoQ creates an opportunity to prepare networks for more responsive, real-time services while strengthening existing delivery capabilities.

Unlocking value at the CDN layer
As video demand grows and advertising models evolve, monetisation capabilities within CDN environments are becoming increasingly important. The delivery layer is emerging as a control point for both advertising and security.

Dynamic ad insertion integrated into operator infrastructure enables new revenue opportunities whilst supporting more advanced targeting and inventory management, allowing operators to play a bigger role in the streaming value chain. A Taiwanese telecommunications operator leveraged dynamic ad insertion within its video platform to strengthen monetisation and viewer engagement.

But it’s not just about layering in advanced ad capabilities to monetise your own content; it’s also about finding ways to offer those ad enablement services to third-party streaming partners.

Some operators are championing these types of models, harnessing new value from their existing network infrastructure and supporting more relevant, personalised ad experiences.

As demand intensifies, operators need to move beyond capacity expansion and adopt smarter delivery models that are purpose-built to handle live streaming at scale. Multicast ABR is a huge differentiator, advanced CDN strategies are becoming table stakes, and emerging protocols such as MoQ need to be on the agenda.

Operators that act now will become critical enablers of the streaming ecosystem and secure a stronger position in Asia’s next chapter of video growth.