China Digital TV Selected to Provide CA For China's Mobile TV

Friday, September 18th, 2009
China Digital TV Holding logo

BEIJING — China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STV) (“China Digital TV” or the “Company”), the leading provider of conditional access (“CA”) systems to China’s expanding digital television market, today announced that it had been selected by China Satellite Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (CSM), a company under China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), to provide CA systems to mobile TV networks throughout China. System installation is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.

China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) is a home-grown standard for mobile TV broadcasting. With built-in CMMB modules, handheld devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and GPSs will be able to receive live TV programs and multimedia data. CSM commenced deployment of its mobile TV networks in July 2008 before the Beijing Olympic Games. Earlier this year the development entered its commercial phase and CSM operators began charging subscribers for mobile content. As of today, nearly 200 cities in China are covered by local CMMB networks and the number of cities is expected to reach 337 by the end of 2009.

China Digital TV is one of the two CA systems providers selected by CSM, and the only domestic provider. China Digital TV has deployed simulcryption projects in 10 provinces and regions including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Jilin, and Liaoning, and expects to be present in all 31 provinces across China by the end of 2009. Post installation of head-end systems, China Digital TV will provide terminal-end solutions, which are compatible with most handheld devices on the market, to local CSM operators on demand.

“We are extremely proud to be a CA provider in this landmark national project,” said Mr. Dong Li, China Digital TV’s president. “The partnership with CSM has created another future revenue source for us, and we are excited by the possibilities of the promising mobile TV market in China.”

“CMMB’s rapid development over the past year demonstrates the government’s determination to push the mobile TV industry forward. Industry experts expect the total mobile TV subscriber base to increase into the tens-of-millions within three years. With our first class engineering capability and customer-centric service tradition, I believe China Digital TV will replicate the success we have enjoyed in the digital cable TV market in China’s expanding mobile TV industry,” Li continued.