Nagravision hooks up with Vodafone Italy to protect new mobile TV service

Leading service and content protection company secures Vodafone Italy’s mobile TV commercial service over DVB-H

CHESEAUX, Switzerland — Nagravision, the world’s leading independent provider of content protection and value-added service technology, has been selected by Vodafone Italy to protect the content rights for its Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) mobile TV service – Vodafone SKY TV. Nagravision’s access rights system guarantees secure access to mobile TV channels for Vodafone customers wishing to watch TV using their mobiles.

Italy’s second largest mobile operator uses Nagravision’s Nagra Mobile TV conditional access solution to protect access to nine TV channels – including Fox 1, Sky Sports and the Disney Channel as well as premium TV services like Serie A football. The service is available on LG KU950 handsets.

Integrated in Vodafone SIMs, Nagravision technology manages user access rights not only to protect but also maximise Vodafone’s mobile TV revenues in delivering premium and value-added mobile content. The solution allows Vodafone to deliver a wide range of business models to increase revenues, from pay-per-subscription to pay-per-view and pay-per-time.

Mobile TV subscriptions worldwide are predicted to increase from 11 million last year to 171 million subscriptions by 2010 – and Italian consumers have been early adopters of mobile TV services over DVB-H since last summer when shows began broadcasting.

Carlo Stramaglia, Head of Nagravision Italy, says: “Vodafone is a reference in mobile telephony technology and our involvement in their Italian mobile TV projects is a recognition of our expertise in the sector. Last year we were the first in the world to provide and deploy a SIM-based DVB-H conditional access solution in commercial DVB-H operations and this agreement strengthens our leadership in the market.”