Latens Provides First Approved CA Security Solutions for Sweden's Basebox Digital Environment

LONDON — IPTV World Forum — Latens Systems, the pioneer of software Conditional Access solutions, today announces that Latens FCAS and IPCAS are the first CA solutions approved for the protection of TV content and revenues for Sweden’s Basebox environment, an open access initiative. The Basebox project, founded in Sweden, is an exciting initiative to develop an open access environment for digital information and entertainment.

The guiding principle of the Basebox open access initiative is to switch to a horizontal business model and produce a digital environment which provides universal access to all digital information services – for the consumer this means that they aren’t faced with the choice of content from one supplier or multiple set-top boxes and subscriptions. For content owners, the Basebox environment means that all users of the environment are potential customers.

“The Basebox environment is all about openness. By removing the requirement for consumers to subscribe to content packages through the preferred delivery mechanisms of the content packager, typically a satellite or cable TV provider, we are widening both consumer choice and the content distributors’ customer base,” says Orjan Mattsson, responsible for the Basebox environment at Acreo. “To do this we have designed the Basebox environment to have maximum flexibility. This is particularly important in content and revenue security, which can be a major barrier to universal access.”

Orjan Mattsson concluded: “For the Basebox environment we specified DVB Simulcrypt, which secures revenues and at the same time enables universal access by supporting multiple CA schemes. We are happy to announce that Latens is the first CA company to be approved as a content and revenue security provider for the Basebox environment and look forward to approving other CA vendors to provide Simulcrypt compliant CA for the Basebox reference platform.”

The Basebox environment has been designed by the Open Broadband-TV working group, a partnership between; The Swedish Urban Network Association, The Swedish Union of Tenants, Swedish Property Federation, The Swedish Association of Municipal Housing Companies and the Acreo Research Institute. The first Basebox installations will rollout during 2007, with the first deployments likely to be with housing associations and other large landlords throughout Sweden. The first consumers to gain access to content through the Basebox platform will see many advantages, including the opportunity to pay for a wide choice of TV content from a wide selection of entertainment and information providers, all on an a la carte basis.

Acreo is responsible for the technical coordination of the Basebox environment. Acreo’s assignment is to enable and create the Basebox reference platform supported by Fiber Optic Valley. This reference platform, together with the Acreo designed testbed, is the foundation of the standardisation work. Acreo coordinates a team of experts and suppliers to ensure that Basebox is a viable technical standard and entertainment and information delivery platform.

“The Basebox project allows us a glimpse into the future of TV and I’m pleased that the flexibility of our Simulcrypt compliant software CA has enabled us to become the first security provider to be approved for this exciting new environment,” says Andy Mathieson, Director, Latens. “Given that Basebox is all about openness, our almost unique commitment to Simulcrypt and other relevant standards played a major role in Basebox’s approval for the Latens IPCAS and FCAS CA solutions.”

“From the inception of Latens we’ve been clear that our CA is fully Simulcrypt compliant. This means that if our CA is protecting an operator it’s because we’re doing a good job rather than because we’re hard to remove,” concluded, Mathieson.

Latens IPCAS & FCAS

Latens IPCAS and FCAS systems have been specifically tailored for the unique demands of IP network operators. Both systems have been built on the proven knowledge gained from the Pay TV industry but taking a fresh look at the technical advantages created by innovative use of improvements in software security and the architecture of two way networks.

Latens software CAS for IP operators are differentiated from legacy CA systems by the following key features:

• IPCAS and FCAS are dynamic, pure software solution which replaces the proprietary smart cards or static hardware/software combinations of traditional CAS vendors with innovative Secure Software Modules. This approach provides an operator with superior levels of conditional access security with previously impossible hack recovery and antipiracy features
• Both IPCAS and FCAS are built upon the same no compromise” security already accepted by the world’s top content owners
• With Latens, IP operators can deploy FCAS in their infancy to scale from micro deployments of hundreds of hundreds of thousands. Operators that meet their eventual target of millions of subscribers can deploy Latens IPCAS which uses a distributed, highly resilient architecture that scales technically and cost effectively, allowing operators to start with a modest investment, and grow to their maximum potential
• Latens runs a continuous program of integration with other IPTV technology suppliers. Operators have a wide choice of suppliers without increasing the implementation risk to the project
• The systems are designed with the flexibility to support a diverse range of business models encountered in the IPTV market
• Latens IPCAS and FCAS are proven solutions, already deployed in commercial IPTV services over xDSL and FTTH networks and trusted by the world’s leading content providers to deliver their valuable assets securely.