11.40 UPDATE: According to local reports, the DTH platform UPC Direct has extended the number of channels on which it is testing the Nagravision 2 conditional access system. UPC Direct is distributed by Astra to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and has up until now employed CryptoWorks. It faces growing competition in all three countries from DigiTV, the DTH platform operated by Romania’s RCS/RDS.
Already Viasat History, AXN, VH1, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Hallmark, Zone Reality, Zone Club and Extreme Sports carry the Nagra codes in Simulcrypt with CryptoWorks.
UPC uses the OpenTV middleware, now owned by the Nagra Kudelski group, which has begun to exploit the synergies with its conditional access system.