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Skylife broadens relationship with NDS

Indiantelevision.com Team

(18 August 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting (Skylife) has extended its long-standing relationship with NDS, the technology solutions provider for digital pay-TV.

Korea's first and only satellite pay-TV operator has selected NDS' Videoguard conditional access (CA) technology and MediaHighway middleware for its new HDTV service. Skylife HD is the first H.264 based HD service in Korea.

NDS has been Skylife’s technology partner since the pay-TV operation was established in March 2001. During this time, NDS has supplied SkyLife with its CA and middleware, as well as industry-leading XTV™ Digital Video Recorder (DVR) technology and NDS Electronic Program Guide (EPG).

SkyLife is enhancing its offering to subscribers with the launch of live HD services, and continues to trust NDS technology to protect and power the delivery of high value content. SkyLife HD is a 24-hour HD service which aggregates HD content from broadcasters such as Discovery HD, NHK, VOOM HD, and others.

Viewers must subscribe to the SkyLife HD package in order to watch the HD channels and selected HD packages also include SD channels.

NDS says that Videoguard is the most advanced content security available today, currently protecting over 86.9 million active devices worldwide. In addition to providing robust content protection, VideoGuard facilitates an extensive range of pay-TV business models, such as multiple channel packages, tiering, pay-per-view purchase of programs from the EPG, impulse pay-per-view and other services that allow the operator to maximize viewer choice, build loyalty, and generate revenues.

Skylife CTO Sung Yong Woo says, “Skylife is pleased to be offering Korean viewers the best quality HD pay-TV service anywhere. We are confident that NDS’ unrivalled technology leadership will assist us in providing our subscribers the most advanced and exciting viewing experience possible.”

NDS Asia Pacific VP, GM Sue Taylor adds, “NDS is proud to be working with SkyLife, Korea’s first and only digital satellite platform. Since the establishment of our relationship in 2001, SkyLife has grown impressively. This new agreement for securing and enabling HD services further consolidates our relationship and enables SkyLife to provide more choices for Korean viewers”.