NEW ORLEANS, May 8, 2000 — Today at Cable 2000, NagraVision TM , the digital pay TV division of the Kudelski Group, and Microsoft Corp. announced the integration of NagraVision’s Open conditional access technology with the Microsoft® TV Advanced client software for advanced set-top boxes. The companies also announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further integrate NagraVision technologies across the Microsoft TV Platform, continue to innovate and develop new technologies, and market the integrated solution. As part of the MOU, both companies agreed to work toward a definitive agreement. This solution will be demonstrated this week in the Microsoft and NagraVision booths at Cable 2000, the annual National Cable Television Association’s trade show.
NagraVision and Microsoft intend to offer a broad, open and compelling end-to-end secure middleware solution designed for enhanced TV for cable, satellite, terrestrial, telco, and multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS) operations.
The companies will continue to work together to evolve the products to meet current and future market and customer requirements, as well as deliver an integrated head-end solution composed of Microsoft TV Server, Microsoft TV Access Channel Server and NagraVision’s head-end systems.
“Working with Microsoft supports NagraVision’s commitment to open systems and to offering the best available solutions for digital TV providers,”
said John Markey, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Kudelski Group, NagraVision’s parent company.
“The combination of NagraVision’s proven conditional access and management tools and Microsoft’s enhanced-TV technology will enable a wealth of services to enhance the viewing experience and will allow operators to quickly reap the benefits of enhanced television.”
“Conditional access is at the heart of every pay-TV system, and it is key for Microsoft to be working with a strong industry partner like NagraVision,”
said Phil Goldman, vice president of the TV Platforms Group at Microsoft.
“NagraVision’s conditional access system combined with Microsoft TV solutions creates a very compelling solution to operators around the world.”
TV Cabo plans to deliver the first digital interactive-TV services to its subscribers before the end of the year.
“We are very pleased to have Microsoft and NagraVision working with us in connection to the development of digital interactive TV services through our broadband network. Work is progressing well against a very demanding timetable, and we plan to start offering the first digital interactive TV services, based on the Microsoft TV Platform, to our subscribers in the fourth quarter of this year,”
said Jose Graca Bau, CEO of TV Cabo.
“With the launch of these services, we’ll be able to meet the targets that PT Multimedia has committed to, and positions Portugal among the first countries in the world to have digital interactive-TV services through a bidirectional HFC network.”
NagraVision’s conditional access and system management solutions are designed for operators seeking a nonproprietary, cost-effective and proven enhanced digital-TV solution. NagraVision is a leader in supplying TV and broadband Internet encryption and decryption systems with more than 22 million smart cards in use worldwide. NagraVision also supports most of the first- and next-generation digital set-top box manufactures, far more than any other conditional access provider.
About Microsoft TV Platform
The Microsoft TV Platform is a comprehensive software solution for the television industry that makes television more useful, fun and engaging for consumers and creates significant new economic opportunities for network operators and their suppliers of programming, hardware and software. The client software, Microsoft TV Basic Digital for current-generation set-top boxes and Microsoft TV Advanced for advanced set-top boxes, operate a range of TV-centric appliances from set-top boxes to integrated televisions. Microsoft TV Server and Microsoft TV Access Channel Server are a pair of server software products that offer network operators the tools to provision, manage and operate a large-scale, commercial-grade enhanced-TV service.
The Microsoft TV Platform supports worldwide digital TV broadcast standards, including DVB, ATSC and ARIB. It also supports commonly used Internet standards such as HTML, JavaScript and Dynamic HTML, as well as all interactive content authored according to the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF) specification.
About NagraVision
NagraVision is a leading provider of open conditional access and advanced system management tools and solutions for cable, satellite, terrestrial and MMDS operators worldwide. These advanced solutions provide digital-television operators with the tools to operate and manage a range of interactive broadband services that include e-commerce, interactive program guides and video on demand. NagraVision’s conditional access technologies are currently being utilized by leading cable, satellite, terrestrial and MMDS operators worldwide representing over 22 million pay TV subscribers.
NagraVision is a division of the Switzerland-based Kudelski Group (SWX
“KUD”
) and has offices in the United States, Singapore, Shanghai, Brazil and Switzerland.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.
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Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
NagraVision is a trademark of Kudelski SA. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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