Canal+ will make its bouquet of HD channels available to viewers with a CI Plus equipped receiver, the so-called Canal Ready sets from Strong and Sagem.
The HD receivers from the two manufacturers already have access to the free-to-air HD channels on the TNTSat platform (TF1 HD, M6HD, France 2 HD, Arte HD).
Now, viewers can also subscribe to another 13 HD pay channels, including the HD version of Canal+ itself and the HD channels in the Canalsat bouquet,which include CineCinema Premier HD, Disney Cinemagic HD, Eurosport HD, Ushaia HD, MTV HD and National Geographic HD.
The opening up of the devices marks an interesting turn of events. Until now, the TNTSat receivers were solely intended for reception of the terrestrial digital channels via satellite using Viacess encryption.
By deploying the CI Plus standard, they will also open up to other encryption systems, including that of Canal+ and CanalSat.