Viaccess has confirmed that Canal+ has selected its conditional access system for its TNTSat entry package. Scheduled to launch on June 15, TNTSat will replicate the line-up from the French digital terrestrial platform. The move is a surprise because Canal has traditionally used the MediaGuard conditional access system, now controlled by Nagra Kudelski, while France Telecom’s Viaccess was the CA of choice at former rivals TPS. It is assumed that the simulcrypt system will be used to ensure the availability of the channels to existing CanalSat subscribers.
TNTSat will sit side by side with the Canal+ CanalSat package on Astra at 19 degrees East. It will feature 18 of the channels from the DTT platform together with France O from public broadcasters France Télévisions.
DTT services are currently available to 63% of the population and will extend to 95% by the time analogue switchover is completed in November 2011.