When the popularity of major media events like the Beijing Olympics meets the convenience of watching on mobile phones and PCs, the result can be new forms of convergence. Both mobile TV and IPTV are gaining in popularity in different markets around the world. This is especially true in Russia.

Sistema Mass Media (SMM), which launched its IPTV service in Moscow several years ago, is now preparing to launch its mobile TV business. It chose the NDS Unified Headend™ to both manage and to protect its TV content delivery to subscribers on both networks.

A subsidiary of Sistema, Russia’s largest public diversified consumer services corporation, SMM is the largest pay-TV and broadband Internet provider in the country. Based in Moscow, SMM operates in more than 40 cities and has more than two million broadband subscribers.

Comstar Direct, another Sistema subsidiary, is now responsible for the IPTV business. It delivers programming services secured with NDS content protection technology to over 120,000 subscribers in Moscow with plans to expand the service to other cities.

“Our partnership with SMM began in 2005 when they first launched IPTV services using VideoGuard CA,” says Jeremy Maddocks, NDS Regional Director, Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe. “This year they began a massive upgrade of their cable infrastructure,” he says.

“The agreement to implement the NDS Unified Headend will provide SMM with a secure platform that will support all Sistema deployments including IP STBs, mobile handsets and PCs,” Maddocks says.

Mobile TV launch scheduled 2008-09

With a 17 percent market share, SMM is Russia’s largest pay-TV and broadband Internet access operator.
 
Through its content division called Stream-Content, SMM is involved in the production and aggregation of TV programming on five channels. The commercial launch of SMM’s mobile TV service, based on the DVB-H standard, is scheduled to begin later this year in Moscow and then in 16 other cities each with a population of more than 1 million.

Unlike most other DVB-H deployments which are tied to a specific mobile operator and require a subscription and operator-specific SIM card, SMM’s DVB-H service, uniquely, will be available to all Russian mobile subscribers regardless of their network service provider.

NDS Unified Headend central to mobile TV service

The deployment for SMM includes VideoGuard Mobile™ which is a component of the NDS Unified Headend that protects SMM’s DVB-H mobile service.

“The NDS Unified Headend which we are deploying is vital for us because we want to use a single security system to ensure proper support for all kinds of viewers’ devices,” says Dr. Vitaly Shub, SMM’s Deputy CEO.

“SMM achieves convergence by integrating CA and DRM with a variety of third party applications,” Maddocks says. “This enables them to deliver secure broadcast as well as video-on-demand (VOD) services to a variety of devices including STBs, mobile phones, PCs, portable media players (PMPs) and DVRs.”

“Only NDS was able to provide us with a complete, cost-effective solution that enables us to offer truly converged services to our customers,” Dr. Shub says.

“NDS provides both the flexibility to combine multiple platforms for a single management view of operations as well as giving us the opportunity to offer advanced new services in the future,” Dr. Shub says.

“By deploying the NDS Unified Headend, SMM is doing more than supplying pay-TV services to its subscribers over IP,” Maddocks says. “Its converged services result in more exciting possibilities for customers by combining mobile service with IPTV.”

VideoGuard Mobile: Delivering true convergence

VideoGuard Mobile supports both the Open Security Framework (OSF) and OMA BCAST smart card profile standards. It also offers a clear, seamless migration path between them. VideoGuard Mobile is fully compliant with DVB-H, DVB-SH, DMB, MediaFLO, CMMB and STIMI standards.

VideoGuard Mobile is based on NDS market-leading VideoGuard® CA and DRM technology which now protects over 90.3 million digital devices around the world. VideoGuard Mobile will secure the broadcast content delivered over SMM’s mobile TV network, safeguarding its subscription revenues, while enabling the company to benefit from a variety of possibilities for business models and enhanced services. VideoGuard Mobile is fully integrated with a variety of handsets and standalone devices that will be available in the Russian market. This includes new models to be supplied by Samsung, LG and Gigabyte.

“SMM is demonstrating its pioneering spirit as it adopts the latest technology to deliver a compelling converged environment to consumers,” Maddocks says.

“With the enormous scale and reach of its operations, SMM has the potential to change the way millions of subscribers watch TV across Russia,” Maddocks says.

“The partnership between SMM and NDS will help SMM realise its aspirations to be a fully integrated media company and content distributor, and we look forward to continuing to support them,” he says.

For more information:

NDS Unified Headend
VideoGuard Mobile