Tuesday, 11 December 2007

Irdeto to Supply 2 Million Smart Cards to China

Irdeto has accepted an order for two million smart cards from China’s Jilin Provincial Network which will serve as a support to the Cable TV operator’s digital migration project.

The two million smart cards will be delivered over the next two and a half years in a project which is considered by the digital TV, IPTV and mobile network content security provider as “the largest for Irdeto to date”.

This move is seen as an expansion of the already existing relationship between both organisations. Jilin is an existing customer of Irdeto’s Digital TV Solution, a platform-independent CA system which allows operators to scale their subscriber base to millions while ensuring content and revenue protection.

The latest large scale order also marks the first VOD (video on demand) CA deal for Irdeto in China.

“This agreement enhances Irdeto’s position in the Chinese CA market and provides another opportunity for our media business experience to be shared with Jilin, one of the pioneers in China’s digitization of the market. The inclusion of VOD integrated together with CA in this first implementation of its kind is a demonstration of our technological leadership,” said Graham Kill, CEO of Irdeto.

Jilin Provincial Network has three million registered subscribers in its cable TV network. It provides cable TV services to subscribers from all the cities and municipalities within the Jilin Province in China. According to a recent report by the Jilin Government, finalization of digital migration for 600,000 subscribers is one of eight key enhancements which will be implemented by the Government.

“Jilin is one of four provincial cable TV operators in China to have consolidated its network within the whole province. Going forward, it is important that we partner a CA vendor who is able to provide us with a mature and technologically-advanced solution, proven expertise and a strong track record in customer service as we embark on large-scale digital migration,” said Wang Shengjie, General Manager of Jilin Provincial Networks.

China has 140 million cable subscribers as at 2006, and the number is expected to grow to 184 million by 2011, according to research estimates by Media Partners Asia. The number of digital cable TV subscribers is expected to grow from 10 million to 61 million over the same period.