NDS has announced that Sky Deutschland, the largest pay-TV operator in Germany and Austria, has launched CI Plus modules based on the NDS VideoGuard conditional access system.
Sky’s decision to introduce CI Plus was first announced by Sky Deutschland CEO Brian Sullivan, who indicated there is a “pretty good chance” that Sky might produce its own CI Plus during last year’s ANGA Cable show. Last November, the company indicated that it was indeed rolling out CI Plus.
Gerry Duffy, senior VP of technology at Sky Deutschland said in a statement: “Our new CI+ modules, secured by NDS, help us to approach new customer groups. They provide the experienced consumer electronics user with greater flexibility in their hardware choice, and with that more options to access the world of Sky. In parallel we fulfil the security requirements of our content licensors by relying on the robust content protection of our technology partner NDS to implement the CI+ specification.”
As CI Plus is being rolled out across an increasing number of platforms, including most major cable operators, there still is a lot of unrest among German consumers, politicians and consumer groups, who fear CI Plus allows too much control over what people can watch and record.
