China Digital TV Chosen as Mobile TV Solution Developer by State Administration of Radio Film and Television

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
China Digital TV Holding logo

BEIJING — China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STV), the leading provider of conditional access (CA) systems to mainland China’s growing digital television market today announced that the Company has been designated as a mobile TV solution developer by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), China’s regulatory body on broadcasting.

Under the contract signed with Zhongguang Satellite Mobile Broadcasting Corporation, a subsidiary of SARFT, China Digital TV will develop Electronic Service Guide (ESG) solutions based on China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) standards.

CMMB is a home-grown broadcasting platform designed for mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, MP4 devices and laptop computers. Earlier this year, CMMB services were launched in 37 cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. People can watch seven to eight TV channels and receive radio programs on mobile devices with embedded CMMB chips. During the 2008 Olympic Games beginning this August, CCTV, China’s central television station, will broadcast Olympic programming to CMMB users.

ESGs are program navigation guides used in mobile TV platforms. Mobile TV viewers can use an ESG to quickly search and find multimedia broadcasting information, like program airing time, classification and show summaries.

“We are pleased that SARFT has once again chosen China Digital TV as their technology solution partner,” said Mr. Jianhua Zhu, China Digital TV’s chief executive officer. He continued, “SARFT’s selection helps us gain an important foothold into the mobile TV market, a market with immense potential. China’s digital TV industry is evolving with the development of multiple viewing platforms. This wealth of new outlets provides China Digital TV with many opportunities for growth.”

In China, the potential market for ESG usage is very broad as more than 300 network operators are expected to install head-end ESG applications and terminal-end ESG software will be adopted by millions of mobile device users. According to Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of mobile phone subscribers in China reached approximately 600 million by the end of May 2008.