Essel Group’s Dish TV India - Asia Pacific’s largest DTH brand - and leading MSO SITI Cable select Conax Cardless content protection for pay-TV expansion

Essel Group building state-of-art STB utilizing multiple layers of chipset security to protect premium content including Conax Cardless’ integrated secure hardware mechanisms
 

Oslo and Delhi, September 6th, 2016: Conax, part of the Kudelski Group, and a leader in total service protection for digital entertainment services worldwide via broadcast, broadband and connected devices, today announced that Dish TV India Limited, Asia Pacific’s largest DTH (direct-to-home) TV provider and SITI Cable have selected Conax (for Cardless content protection) as one of the key partners for their pay-TV expansion in the region. Based on flagship Conax Contego™ security hub, the Conax Cardless conditional access technology will be a key and essential security component integrated in the chipsets, which will enable use of multiple layers of content protection in the new Dish TV and SITI Cable cardless set-top-boxes. The arrangement signifies a continued commitment between the Essel Group and Conax to further their long-term partnership and jointly bring new generations of technology to the Group’s platforms.

Conax Cardless technology employs a unique combination of hardware security and software security providing a hardware root of trust for the best level of protection. The secure software is executed within a purpose-built hardware protected environment (Secure Execution Environment) within the chipset. The Conax Cardless technology provides seamless co-existence with legacy smart card population, all based on a single, unified back-end, meaning in any operation only one back-end is necessary.

“With the increasingly competitive landscape in the operator segment, and the need for access to premium content and at the same time keeping operational costs low, it is essential to employ flexible solutions that also offer a high level of security as we look to continue to grow our business”, says Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, Dish TV. Conax has been a long term partner and we believe their strong security solutions will provide an important layer of security to our growing pay-TV business already servicing over 13 million subscribers.”

“As we continue to advance our footprint in the Indian cable TV market and venture into digitization in phase 3 and phase 4 markets it is essential that new and cost-effective security solutions are available to us. SITI Cable is pleased to further its existing relationship with Conax and implement the Conax cardless technology going forward in our markets,” says V S Wadhwa, CEO and Executive Director of SITI Cable.

“Conax’ long term relationship and partnership with the Essel group reaches a new milestone today as we look to further strengthen both the Dish TV and Siticable platforms and help expand its customer base with a new high security, flexible and revolutionary solution, says Morten Solbakken, President and CEO, Conax. With this unique concept they are well positioned to capture additional new market share and protect the premium content demanded by savvy consumers. We are honored to work together with Essel Group in the next step of their journey.”

About Dish TV India Limited
Dish TV is Asia Pacific’s largest direct-to-home (DTH) company and part of one of India’s biggest media conglomerate – the ‘Zee’ Group. Dish TV has on its platform more than 545 channels & services including 22 audio channels and over 50 HD channels & services. Dish TV uses the NSS-6 satellite platform which is unique in the Indian subcontinent owing to its automated power control and contoured beam which makes it suitable for use in ITU K and N rain zones ideally suited for India’s tropical climate. The company also has transponders on the Asiasat 5 platform and on the SES-8 platform which makes its total bandwidth capacity equal to 828 MHZ, the largest held by any DTH player in the country. The Company has a vast distribution network of over 2,297 distributors & over 241,346 dealers that span across 9,350 towns in the country. Dish TV customers are serviced by thirteen 24* 7 call centres catering to 11 different languages to take care of subscriber requirement at any point of time. For more information on the company, please visit www.dishtv.in

SITI Cable Network Limited
SITI Cable Network Limited (erstwhile known as Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd) is a part of the Essel Group, which is one of India's leading business houses with a diverse portfolio of assets in media, packaging, entertainment, technology-enabled services, infrastructure development and education. SITI Cable Network Limited is one of India's leading Multi System Operator (MSO). With 36 analogue and 18 digital head ends and a network of more than 30,000 Kms of optical fibre and coaxial cable, it provides its cable services in India's 300+ key cities and the adjoining areas, reaching out to over 12.2 million cable universe. SITI Cable deploys State-of-the-art technology for delivering multiple TV signals to enhance consumer viewing experience. Its product range includes, Analog Cable Television, Digital Cable Television, Broadband and Local Television Channels. SITI Cable has been providing services in analogue and digital mode, armed with technical capability to provide features like Video on Demand, Pay per View, Electronic programming Guide (EPG) and gaming through a Set Top Box (STB). All products are marketed under SITI brand name. www.siticable.com 

About Conax
A part of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD:S), Conax is a leading global specialist in total service protection for digital TV and entertainment services via broadcast, broadband and connected devices. The Conax Contego™ unified security hub provides telcos, cable, satellite, IP, mobile, terrestrial and broadband operations with an innovative portfolio of flexible and cost-efficient solutions to deliver premium content securely. Conax’ future-ready technology offers modular, fast-time-to-market solutions that enable easy entry into a world of secure multiscreen, multi-DRM content delivery and secures rights for premium content delivery to a range of devices over new hybrid network combinations.  Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, ISO 9001 & 27001 certified Conax technology enables secure content revenues for 400 operators in 85 countries globally. For more information, please visit www.conax.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to join in the conversation.

Conax media contact
Leslie Johnsen
Head of Public Relations & Communications
Mob: +47 41 45 80 43
[email protected]