Stofa Selects Irdeto and Neotion to deliver Pay TV without Set-Top Boxes or Smart Cards

Stofa Selects Irdeto and Neotion Solution to Deliver Pay TV Industry First; End-to-End Solution Delivers Premium HD Broadcast, Video on Demand and Catch Up TV Content Without Set-Top Boxes or Smart Cards

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — Irdeto, a global software security and media technology company, today announced that Stofa, a leading Danish pay TV operator, has chosen an end to end solution from Irdeto and Neotion, worldwide CI and CI Plus Conditional Access Module Manufacturer, to protect and deliver its advanced Zaptor pay TV offering directly to TVs without requiring a set-top box. An industry first, the implementation will use Irdeto Cloaked Conditional Access (CA) and Neotion’s Advanced CI Plus Module to deliver Stofa’s broadcast TV, video on demand (VoD) and catch up TV content to consumers using a single solution that is more convenient and costs less than a traditional set-top box solution.

Thomas Helbo, IP Operations and Development Manager at Stofa said, “Together, Irdeto and Neotion are enabling us to deliver new interactive ways of consuming television that meet our customers’ viewing needs, while helping us to capitalize on a huge market opportunity and create real competitive advantage.”

“The Irdeto and Neotion end to end solution combined with Stofa’s own development enables the delivery of value added services as well as a greater control of the user interface – something that was previously impossible with our current smart card solution. It also ensures that the costs associated with smart card replacements following security threats as well as the complexity of handling the smart card are significantly reduced,” Helbo concluded.

“We are seeing consumers increasingly enjoying interactive services and are delighted to offer a solution which can be a inserted into integrated digital TVs,” said Inge Højmark, Purchasing Manager at Stofa. “Strategic alliances with suppliers are a vital contribution to developing and commercializing new competencies,” Højmark added.

“Our solution is solving a very real challenge in the industry,” said Doug Lowther, EVP, Digital TV, Irdeto. “Operators have been forced into making a very difficult decision about trading functionality and ARPU for cost savings. Our solution allows them to have the best of both worlds.”

“For some time now Neotion has been an innovator and a key contributor to pushing IP connectivity, security and interactivity through CI Plus CA modules. We are very proud to have our efforts validated by the deployment of this innovative product,” said Gregory Wieczorek, Neotion, CEO.

The Irdeto Cloaked CA solution is a fully featured and renewable cardless CAS which makes extensive use of Irdeto’s patented software security protection technology. It enables pay TV operators to offer premium HD content to their subscribers without the logistical costs associated with the deployment and swapping of physical smart cards, saving them up to 50% on the total cost of ownership of a smart card-based CA system.

The Irdeto Cloaked CA solution represents a revolution in conditional access technology, not only because it saves operators money and simplifies their operations, but because it is the first one-way broadcast conditional access client to gain wide familiarity and trust from Hollywood studios. Based on the results of audits from respected industry experts like T-Systems Germany and Farncombe Technology Ltd., pay-TV operators can be confident that they can acquire and secure digital content such as premium movies from leading studios.

Simply slotted in the CI Plus iDTVs, the Neotion Advanced CI Plus Module is a solution that includes an Ethernet port to the CI Plus CAM so that it can be plugged directly into an Internet connection at home to provide VoD and catch up TV content in the same way as a set-top box.

Lowther concluded, “This end to end solution for Stofa is evidence of Irdeto’s mission to empower operators to offer Media 3.0 experiences to their consumers with advanced, broadband-enabled, multi-screen experiences that drive customer acquisition and retention as well as increasing subscriber revenues. The addition of Irdeto Cloaked CA to Irdeto’s existing line of smart card-based solutions is only one of Irdeto’s solutions for pay TV operators, which include Irdeto Broadband (IB). For example, the combination of IB, and Neotion’s Advanced CI Plus Module allows any broadcaster to deliver enhanced services with a full range of IP video offerings.”