- Conditional access leader breaks new ground on the retail market
- New content security service using event-based smart cards
Cologno Monzese (Milan, Italy), Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne (Switzerland), October 19, 2004 - Nagravision, the world's leading independent provider of open conditional access systems and value-added solutions for digital TV, today announced a strategic agreement with the Mediaset Group, Italy's most important privately-owned communications and broadcasting group and one of the largest in the world.
Under the terms of the agreement, Nagravision, which is part of the Kudelski Group, will secure pay-per-view (PPV) offerings over Mediaset's digital terrestrial platform, the first commercial digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) service in Italy scheduled to launch in 2005.
Nagravision's innovative content security solution is based on smart cards which can be recharged during a limited time period. Italian customers will be able to buy them in stores to watch the live broadcasting of football matches of the Italian Premiere League (Campionato Italiano di Serie A -- "Calcio" ). Mediaset, the leading provider of free-to-air digital terrestrial television programming services in Italy, has secured digital terrestrial premium football TV rights for the next three seasons from leading Serie A clubs Inter, Juventus, Milan, Roma, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Livorno and Messina.
To offer Mediaset maximum commercial flexibility, the smart cards provided by Nagravision will be event-based and rechargeable.
Nagravision will download its conditional access technology on to the DTT-enabled set-top boxes already deployed and work with all digital set-top box manufacturers in the Italian retail market to enable the timely launch of this service.
"We are tremendously proud to have been selected by Mediaset to secure their commercial DTT service," said Pierre Roy, Nagravision Chief Operating Officer. "This is an acknowledgment of our ability to rapidly and efficiently deploy a pay-per-view service on a free-to-air platform using the most advanced smart card-based technologies enabling operators to introduce innovative business models. As commercial DTT is expected to be the fastest-growing Pay TV segment in Europe, we are more than ever committed to expand tour presence in this segment."
MediaGuard, another Kudelski Group's conditional access technology, secured the first commercial digital terrestrial platforms in 1999. Today, one of the largest commercial DTT service worldwide, Top Up TV, is also secured by MediaGuard.
About the Kudelski Group
The Kudelski Group (www.nagra.com) is a world leader in digital security. Its technologies are used in a wide range of applications requiring access control and rights management, whether for securing transfer of information (digital television, broadband Internet, video-on-demand, interactive applications, etc.) or to control and manage access of people or vehicles to sites and events. The Kudelski Group is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, and its stock is listed on the Swiss Market Index.
Nagravision, a member of the Kudelski Group, is the world's leading independent supplier of open conditional access and integrated solutions for digital TV operators and content providers. Its technologies are currently being used by more than 100 leading operators worldwide serving over 50 million subscribers.
Contact:
Catherine Hugon
+41 21 732 01 54
[email protected]