Astro Signs Agreement with NDS

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Measat Broadcast Network Systems, owner and operator of Malaysian pay-TV service Astro, and NDS Group plc have signed contracts for the licensing and deployment of the VideoGuard® conditional access system (VideoGuard CAS) for its Direct-to-Home Pay-TV services.

The company plans to progressively migrate its satellite Pay-TV services to the VideoGuard CAS. This follows Astro’s deployment since 1999 of the Mediahighway® middleware (owned by NDS) as its operating system for its set top boxes. The utilization of VideoGuard CAS will provide Astro with a single and consolidated CAS/middleware provider resulting in enhanced ability to leverage functionality between the two technologies, cost efficiencies and speed to market.