End-to-end solutions to address new needs
The Kudelski Group offers a suite of integrated solutions meeting the needs of convergent platforms. Conditional access, middleware, content management and protection, interactivity, user interfaces and security modules are the main elements of a range that covers the entire digital television ecosystem.
The Kudelski Group delivers global turnkey platforms enabling operators to offer their subscribers more choices in viewing content and interacting with it.
The diagram on pages 33-34 shows the entire digital television ecosystem and the content lifecycle, from creation to consumption. It shows how the Kudelski Group's solutions operate within this system and how they add value to the TV experience.
Content protection / Conditional access
Nagravision is the leading supplier of open conditional access systems, Digital Rights Management and integrated on-demand solutions for content providers and digital TV operators. Its technologies are currently being used by leading pay-TV operators worldwide securing content delivered to over 101 million active smartcards/devices.
Content management
Lysis CMS (Content Management System) is an end-to-end flexible system allowing for the secure and optimized workflow management from acquisition of content to post transmission. This powerful tool enables operators to create and manage linear TV and video-on-demand services as well as product bundles for set-top box, PC and mobile consumption.
Advanced digital television solutions
The Kudelski Group's expertise in the field of advanced and interactive digital television solutions lies primarily in OpenTV, a company dedicated to creating and delivering compelling viewing experiences to consumers of digital content worldwide. These advanced digital television features are powered by the company's middleware, which is integrated into set-top boxes and digital televisions around the world and across multiple platforms including satellite, cable, IPTV and DTT. One of the company's leading technologies is its PVR solution which enables network operators and consumer electronics manufacturers to create an advanced PVR solution in a very flexible manner, which includes features such as multiple simultaneous recordings of programs, access to video-on-demand services and electronic program guides.
The OpenTV product range also includes innovative interactive and addressable advertising solutions, participative applications as well as a variety of enhanced television applications.
Electronic Program Guides
Electronic Program Guides (EPG) facilitate navigation, guiding subscribers as they adjust to the explosive growth in digital TV programs. Nagravision's NagraGuide solution (based on OpenTV's middleware) as well as the user interface developed by OpenTV benefit from advanced features including PVR management application and on-demand services.
Quative Service Delivery Platform - IPTV
Quative provides a next-generation award winning Service Delivery Platform (SDP), in combination with a comprehensive Content Management System (CMS) from Nagravision/Lysis and acts as a specialized end-to-end IPTV solution integrator for service providers. Quative is focusing on telecom and Internet service providers launching new IPTV services or migrating to next-generation IPTV solutions. Quative also offers a solution for cable and satellite/terrestrial pay-TV providers deploying IPTV to seamlessly enrich the existing broadcast services.
SmarDTV's removable security modules
SmarDTV is an international leader in pay television technology. It designs and manufactures highly secure, interchangeable modules and associated enabling technologies, which provide authorized access to scrambled television services. SmarDTV CAMs and CableCARDs are used daily by millions of subscribers around the world. These modules address the needs of the rapidly expanding market of removable security modules used to secure consumer electronic equipment such as integrated digital television sets. These devices feature an interface (PCMCIA like) into which a conditional access module (CAM) or a CableCARD module can be inserted, making the use of a separate decoder superfluous. Compliant with DVB and OpenCable specifications, the SmarDTV modules also enable the deployment of interactive applications such as pay-per-view, video-on-demand and games. The cards support high definition programs.
PCTV
SmarDTV's PCTV solution is a compact module the size of a USB key integrating the USB interface, conditional access features and a DVB tuner for digital terrestrial broadcasts. This module enables users to receive digital pay-TV programs on a PC.
OpenTV
In 2008, OpenTV achieved its first year of profitability and remained on target to establish long-term profitability and growth both for the middleware and the advertising activities.
Strong potential for PVR solutions
OpenTV's PVR solutions represent a high potential, fast-growing market. Of the 121 million enabled digital decoders and TV sets, 7.3 million are PVR-enabled devices. In 2008, shipments of these devices grew 56% over 2007. The expansion of this market provides OpenTV with more opportunities to up-sell in areas such as video-on-demand, advanced advertising, home networking and advanced IP-aware interactive applications.
OpenTV is the world's leading supplier of middleware solutions, with 55% market share. In 2008, OpenTV made substantial effort in developing next generation technologies and products. The new middleware platform will support solutions for hybrid IP networks and innovative unified user interfaces.
Advanced advertising solutions
OpenTV develops and markets interactive and addressable advertising solutions that enable operators to add value to advertising over different platforms. OpenTV also provides advertising campaign management solutions (OpenTV Eclipse® and OpenTV EclipsePlus™) which currently deliver and manage spot advertising to more than 28.5 million cable subscribers in the US, representing approximately 45% of that market.