Pace Picks Up Speed in Indian Cable Market

Indian cable operators, DDC, Faction and KCL, select Pace pre-integrated software and set-top box solution to support digital service rollout

Pace plc (LSE: PIC) today announced that its pre-integrated software, conditional access and set-top box solution has been selected by three Indian cable operators, Delhi Distribution Company (DDC), Faction Digital, and New Delhi and Kozhikode Cablecommunicators Ltd.(KCL), Calicut, to support their move to digital services. Pace has designed its pre-integrated solution to provide a cost-effective alternative to operators who need a high quality payTV platform but don’t have the time or infrastructure to manage multiple technology partners or complex systems integration work.

Pace’s pre-integrated solution incorporates Pace’s Tungsten device software and Titanium Conditional Access System (CAS) as standard on a Standard Definition (SD) or High Definition (HD) set-top box. The Indian version of the solution includes a Pace India-developed user interface (UI) created specifically for local consumer browsing preferences in terms of colour and design, including a button on the box itself so that users can operate all functions if their remote control is missing or out of action.

India is currently in the first phase of a government-mandated transition to digital TV services, with full switchover required in 2015. DDC, Faction and KCL have selected the Pace solution to enable swift rollout of digital services to their customers as part of this process, which will see 80 million Indian households transitioned to digital services by the deadline. The solution’s design allows the operators to quickly deploy digital services to customers via an SD set-top box, and then add PVR capabilities or additional services in the field over time, if and when their requirements change.

Shane McCarthy, President of Pace International, said: “Pace aims to offer operators as many options as possible. The cost and time pressures for Indian operators are huge, and working with multiple partners to develop, integrate and deliver their service platform is not a realistic option.

“We have developed our pre-integrated solution to make operators’ lives easier by giving them the option of a single source for their software, hardware and CAS. It provides DDC, Faction and KCL with a straightforward and cost-effective way of moving their subscribers to digital, while maintaining the high quality that customers have come to expect from Pace. This not only delivers up-front but also keeps customers’ longer-term costs down.”