Broadcasting

September 15, 2006
Irdeto, Huawei Join Forces to Offer IPTV Solution

NEW DELHI -- Irdeto, the proven expert in content security for digital TV, IPTV and mobile, recently announced that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Huawei Technologies (Huawei), China’s leading telecom equipment manufacturer, to jointly sell end-to-end solutions into the worldwide IPTV market.

According to the agreement, Huawei will include the Irdeto IPTV content security solution as an integral part of its end-to-end IPTV offering. In addition, Irdeto IPTV, developed by Irdeto, a subsidiary of multinational media group Naspers (NASDAQ: NPSN and JSE: NPN), will be embedded into Huawei’s MPEG-4 set top boxes. Going forward, both companies agreed to engage in joint marketing and joint R&D activities that will facilitate integration of technology leading to next generation IPTV products.

“IPTV needs compelling content, which content owners are only willing to give when content security is in place,” said Zhang Guoxin, president of Digital Media Product Line, Huawei. “Irdeto, with its many years of proven experience in content security and its proven track record recognized by the industry, provides such security. In addition it provides the missing link to our end-to-end IPTV offering. Irdeto’s strong presence in China and its excellent global technical support will put both companies in a better position in the IPTV market by providing best-in-class IPTV solutions to operators around the world.”

“We believe the addressable IPTV market is largely channel-driven and it is important for Irdeto to identify the right partners to team up with,” said Graham Kill, CEO of Irdeto. “We found such a partner in Huawei. Our partnership strategically positions Irdeto to provide its Irdeto IPTV content security solution to top-tier telco’s creating new opportunities in the world-wide IPTV market.“

The Irdeto IPTV solution provides a full video product and service offering, including IPTV, VOD and PVR/DVR security. Within the Irdeto IPTV security framework, content is securely stored and distributed across any broadband IP network and the corresponding content rights are managed on an individual subscriber and/or device basis. Irdeto IPTV is flexible and supports secure content storage for video servers, set top boxes (STB) and PVRs/DVRs. It also offers a choice in either a 100 percent software based solution, Irdeto SoftClient, or a smart card based solution with over-the-air addressable smart cards to download new content security solution to provide new services or security updates.