Irdeto has made a number of announcements of new deals during CommunicAsia 2007 in Singapore: a DVB-H trial in Sydney and the opening of a Singapore office.
The first deal is with systems integrator and manufacturer ZTE Corporation as the preferred content security partner for its end-to-end IPTV system that will be marketed and sold worldwide. According to the agreement, ZTE will incorporate Irdeto’s secure content delivery platform in its IPTV ECO system, an end-to-end solution specifically designed for employing multimedia services over an IP network.
Irdeto also announced that it has signed an agreement with India’s Sun Direct TV to protect Sun TV’s new direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service. Sun TV already runs direct-to-operator and cable TV systems in southern India and has now opted to employ Irdeto’s PIsys conditional access solution to secure the launch of a DTH pay television platform in the second quarter of 2007. Sun Direct TV is set to introduce the new DTH pay TV network following the launch of a next-generation Insat communications satellite by the Indian Space Research Organization in September 2007. Sun Direct TV has placed an initial order for 500,000 Irdeto smart cards as part of that system.
Irdeto announced an agreement with Chengdu Cable to accelerate the digital migration of its cable operations in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. Chengdu Cable, with more than 1.2 million subscribers in its cable TV network, will deploy Irdeto’s Digital TV solution to simulcrypt with its existing Novel Tongfang conditional access (CA) system, first rolled out in 2006. The first 50,000 Irdeto smart cards will be delivered to Chengdu Cable in September 2007, and a total of 400,000 smart cards are expected to be shipped before June 2008.
Irdeto also said it has partnered with Broadcast Australia, and head-end systems vendor Thomson in a DVB-H trial in Sydney, Australia. During the three-month trial, which began on May 7, 2007, Irdeto is demonstrating the delivery of a secure platform on DVB-H networks. It has deployed its Mobile Broadcast conditional access (CA) solution to secure content across mobile services and devices, in order to ensure content protection and robust rights management.
The first phases of the trial, which included testing interactive services, technical capabilities and performance of the DVB-H Solution to deliver mobile TV and related broadcast services has resulted in five secure, encrypted channels available for viewing in the Sydney Metropolitan area, on the newest generation Samsung P930 swivel screen handsets.
Irdeto will also be broadening its strong presence in the growing Asia Pacific market with the opening of a new office in Singapore. These new office will join Irdeto’s existing large facility in Beijing, and regional offices in South Korea, Australia, Thailand and India. This will increase the number of Irdeto offices worldwide to a total of 13. The Singapore office, which will open in June, will serve as the sales and marketing hub for the Asia Pacific area, supporting regional sales activities in the digital TV, IPTV and mobile TV sectors.
