Bristol-based Digital TV Labs has been awarded the contract to be the world’s first approved test centre for the CI Plus (Common Interface) Specification.
CI Plus is the extension to the DVB Common Interface designed to facilitate secure pay-TV services over third party networks. The award was made by CI Plus LLP, the former CI Plus Forum, backed by Sony, SmarDTV, Samsung, Philips and Neotion.
“The benefits of CI Plus are many, both from receiver manufacturer – including Integrated Digital TVs [IDTVs] of course – and operator perspectives,” explained Keith Potter, CEO, Digital TV Labs. “The industry is beginning to see increased legislative pressure, particularly in the cable sector, for operators to open up their networks. For pay-TV service providers it will also allow reception on a greater number of devices and will enable better security support for HD content.”
Although there has been enthusiasm for CI Plus from operators including the Netherlands and Germany, the latter faces difficulties in fully implementing the concept should NDS continue to disapprove of anything other than embedded conditional access.
