NDS Teams Up with HCL to Offer Solutions to India's Cable TV Operators

MUMBAI, INDIA — NDS Group, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced a tie-up with HCL Infosystems, India’s premier information enabling, ICT system integration company, to enable local cable TV operators to launch digital services and increase their market share. The tie-up will leverage NDS technology leadership along with HCL’s deep understanding of the domestic cable and broadband markets. The two companies will co-operatively offer pre-integrated solutions that are quick to implement and integrate, ensuring fast time-to-market while minimising operational costs.

The collaboration between NDS and HCL represents the core of a recently established consortium of vendors whose common aim is to deliver a complete array of services designed to facilitate the development of the digital cable TV market in India. This is a unique collaboration for pay-TV in India, offering ‘best of breed’ multi-vendor solutions. HCI offers technology from a choice of industry-leading suppliers and vendors, including world-class solutions from NDS, giving operators flexibility to choose the path to digital TV that is right for their budget and strategy.

The NDS-HCL tie-up offers solutions that provide operators with the ideal foundation for migrating to digital and a comprehensive but flexible roadmap for the future, making it easy for operators to offer a wider range of new services, including IPTV and a variety of next-generation, converged solutions.

NDS offers an end-to-end package for digital pay-TV that is competitively priced, based on open standards, and features market leading solutions including VideoGuard® conditional access (CA), MediaHighway® middleware and NDS electronic programme guide tailored to the local market, all designed to help operators fast-track to digital TV.

Both HCL and NDS have well established track records as leading systems integrators, and together will manage all the elements necessary to launch a successful digital pay-TV platform. NDS CA and DRM technology currently protects over 99 million digital devices around the world. NDS MediaHighway middleware has been deployed in over 108 million devices worldwide.

According to Mr. George Paul, Executive Vice President, HCL Infosystems Ltd., “For over three decades HCL has been a pioneer in bringing the latest in technology to empower small and medium sized businesses in India. With this tie-up we aim to offer technology solutions that are affordable, scalable and highly relevant to cable operators in India. We are sure that our collaboration with NDS, as part of our growing consortium of co-operating vendors, will significantly promote the growth of the Indian digital cable TV market.”

Ms. Sue Taylor, Senior VP and General Manager Asia Pacific said, “With HCL and NDS, operators will get access to a choice of solutions. Our open standards-based solutions help operators keep costs down while offering a future roadmap that maximises choice. Together HCL and NDS are offering the most flexible range of solutions available.”