Seoul, Korea
Highlights:
-- After selection by the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Korean Broadcasting Commission, C-Cube consortium completes successful IPTV trial
-- KT, the leading telecommunications company in Korea, reaches over 6.3 million broadband subscribers and continues to offer innovative new services
-- NDS Synamedia(TM) solution, incorporating VideoGuard(R)content protection, proven to safeguard IPTV digital content
NDS (NASDAQ:NNDS), the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, has announced that KT and the C-Cube consortium, having selected NDS' market-leading content protection solutions, have successfully completed one of the first IPTV trials in South Korea. The IPTV trial was concluded on December 31, 2006, and final technical evaluation will be submitted to the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Korean Broadcasting Commission for consideration.
The Ministry of Information and Communication and the Korean Broadcasting Commission are conducting rigorous technical verification and stability testing of the C-Cube consortium's IPTV service. The information will be utilized for the review of legislation that will authorize the launch of commercial IPTV services for the first time in Korea.
Ms. Sue Taylor, Vice President and General Manager of NDS Asia Pacific said, "NDS is proud to have supported KT and the C-Cube consortium to successfully complete the IPTV technical trial and systems testing. Because of the unique collection of member companies, the C-Cube consortium is well positioned to take advantage of the convergence of telecommunications, broadcasting, and mobile services."
Mr. Young-Hyun Kim, Vice President of KT said, "After extensive evaluation, KT decided to work with NDS because the company offers the most secure and robust IPTV solution. The IPTV service included a broad range of digital and interactive applications. The NDS systems supported the variety of services that our consortium wanted to offer, and NDS engineers in Seoul helped us achieve our goals to broadcast the best possible service in a very short period of time."
The C-Cube consortium is comprised of 54 companies, including KT, SK Telecom, Hanaro Telecom, LG Dacom, Onse Telecom, KBS, MBC, Samsung Electronics and other partners.
The IPTV service was successfully delivered to 270 households in Seoul and Yangyeong County, southeast of Seoul, protected by the NDS Synamedia solution. The service provided over 27 channels including high definition (HD) channels, five terrestrial channels, a terrestrial portal, a user-created content (UCC) portal, 1,200 on-demand videos, and 27 interactive TV services to fully comply with the requirements specified by the C-Cube consortium.
The IPTV service included a broad range of state-of-the-art applications, such as broadcast TV, video on demand, streaming and multimedia messaging, digital photos, and interactive TV services delivering stock market, weather and sports information.
NDS implemented an optimized Synamedia solution and developed the Korean-language electronic program guide (EPG) based on the unique system requirements.
About KT
KT, Korea's incumbent telecommunications operator, was established in 1900 and fully privatized in 2002. The company has led the evolution of the Korean information and telecommunications industry for the last 100 years, creating world-leading wired and wireless infrastructure in Korea.
About NDS
NDS Group plc (NASDAQ:NNDS), a majority owned subsidiary of News Corporation, supplies open end-to-end digital technology and services to digital pay-television platform operators and content providers. See www.nds.com for more information about NDS.
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CONTACT: NDS Cynthia Ritchie Director, Public Relations T +44 (0)20 8476 8378 M +44 (0)7799 768464 or Diane Powers Director Marketing & Corp Comms, Asia Pacific T +852 2201 9151 M +852 9371 6366 or Shared Value for NDS Noah Schwartz, Vice President T +44 (0)20 7321 5010 M +44 (0)7713 642 717 or Breakaway Communications for NDS Kelly Fitzgerald, Managing Partner T +1 212 616 6006 M +1 917 731 5734 or KT Young-Hyun Kim Vice President, Media Technology Department T +82 (0)2 2070 5560 M +82 (0)10 7277 2300
Source: Business Wire (Business Wire India)