Bharti Airtel Launches DVR Service with NDS XTV Technology

NEW DELHI, INDIA — NDS Group, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced that Airtel digital TV- the DTH service from Bharti Airtel, one of Asia’s leading integrated telecom services providers, has launched NDS XTV™ technology for its integrated DVR service.

Market-leading NDS XTV™ will enhance the viewing experience by allowing Airtel digital TV customers to pause, record, play back, rewind and fast forward their favourite programmes for viewing when they choose. Viewers can record one TV show while playing another, or record both simultaneously and can record up to 100 hours of programming on a 160 GB hard disk. Viewers can build and manage their own personal playlist easily using the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) developed by NDS.

The Airtel digital TV recorder features:

• For the first time in India, a downloadable electronic programme guide (EPG) for use on a mobile phone, to remotely record programmes on the DVR
• An Ethernet port providing a return path for two-way interactive applications in the future
• An HDMI port for the advanced high-end HD LCD TVs
• A choice of five different themes so subscribers can customise the look-and-feel of their EPG, including children’s and festival themes

According to a recent survey conducted by Media Partners Asia (MPA) on behalf of NDS, owning a DVR makes for a happier home life. DVR owners in India overwhelmingly said that a DVR makes TV viewing more enjoyable (88%), and enables them to find and watch more interesting programmes (64%). Moreover, more than half of respondents in a relationship (54%) said that using a DVR has stopped them from arguing with their partner over what to watch on TV.

Bharti Airtel, launched its Direct-to-Home (DTH) service in partnership with NDS in 2008. It uses NDS VideoGuard® conditional access system (CAS), MediaHighway® middleware and a multi-lingual EPG developed by NDS.

Announcing this important milestone in Bharti Airtel’s digital pay-TV offering, Mr. Ajai Puri, Director & CEO-DTH Bharti Airtel, said: “The launch of an integrated DVR service based on NDS XTV is part of our ongoing commitment to offer consumers in India the highest quality pay-TV services. We are confident that today we have through NDS, the industry’s most advanced technology and services to meet our needs.”

Ms Sue Taylor, Senior Vice President and General Manager of NDS Asia Pacific said: “With over 2.5 million customers, Airtel digital TV is recognised for creating world-class products for the Indian market. The decision to launch an integrated DVR service based on XTV with remote recording facility will radically change the way its pay-TV subscribers view content, and enhance Bharti Airtel’s reputation as a pioneering force in the telecom and DTH sector.”