NDS has extended its German footprint with the agreement to supply its MediaHighway middleware to Tele Columbus and PrimaCom.
The two cable operators already use the NDS conditional access system VideoGuard and will now use MediaHighway to rollout value added services including PVR functionality and video on demand. It will also enable them to have a single look and feel across their receiver inventory.
“NDS middleware offers many advantages to us, fulfilling the core requirement for centralised and efficient management of our STB population, currently being deployed in many independent networks which have widely varying headend technology,” said Markus Schmid, CEO of Tele Columbus and PrimaCom.
Between them Tele Columbus and PrimaCom serve around 3.5 million connected households, both directly, and through a large number of independent networks.
Pay-TV platform Premiere already uses both VideoGuard and MediaHighway.
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Connected TV Forecasts NEW REPORT. The number of TV sets connected to the Internet will reach 551 million by 2016 for the 40 countries covered in this report from Digital TV Research, up from 124 million at end-2010. The report states that this translates to 20% of global TV sets by 2016, up from only 6% at end-2010. Published in November 2011, this 83-page PDF report is the most geographically comprehensive to ever be published.