IBC 2007 – AMSTERDAM. Kabel BW executive Gerhard Bickmann has confirmed the German regional cablenet will commence the rollout of on demand television services next year. Speaking at a lunch organised by its new technology supplier NDS, the executive director of finance said the new VideoGuard conditional access system and MediaHighway middleware would allow the company to launch pay-per-view, an electronic programme guide and other services by the middle of next year.
It is one of the quirks of the German market that operators have launched digital services using the so-called zapper boxes with no capacity to run an EPG.
Bickmann was scathing of the Nagra conditional access system that is in widespread use on both DTH and cable platforms in Germany. “Why should we take a system that has been hacked? We would like to have the best of breed and that’s NDS.”
Kudelski has introduced a number of counter measures to restore the security of its Nagra CA.
