NAGRAVISION SELECTED BY EUROPEAN LEADING SATELLITE OPERATOR SES ASTRA TO SECURE ITS NEW DIGITAL TV SERVICES IN GERMANY

Cheseaux, March 9, 2006 – The Kudelski Group (SWX:KUD) today announced that its Nagravision end-to-end turnkey conditional access system has been selected by SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) and the market-leading satellite operator in Europe, for the launch of the company’s new digital TV infrastructure for the German market.

SES ASTRA’s new infrastructure for digital TV and additional interactive services will be available to all broadcasters and will facilitate the introduction and development of digital services on an open and non-discriminatory technological basis. The offer will consist of services like encryption of programme signals and smart card distribution and registration for access. With this offer, TV households will be able to use an evolutive solution for digital TV which provides technical access to Free-to-air TV, Pay-TV and interactive services. For technical services, SES ASTRA will rely on its existing subsidiary ASTRA Platform Services (APS) in Unterföhring near Munich whilst logistics, distribution of smart cards and customer services will be handled by a new SES ASTRA subsidiary.

The Nagravision end-to-end turnkey conditional access system will be scaled to support up to 10 million registered customers with the capability to increase the capacity as per the requirements of SES ASTRA. Nagravision’s conditional access solution provides outstanding broadcast security and enables SES ASTRA to offer the technical services for programming diversity and flexible business models especially tailored to broadcaster and consumer needs.

“Nagravision is pleased to participate in SES ASTRA's project to be a pioneer in the growing field of mass market digital TV”, says André Kudelski, President and CEO of the Kudelski Group. “Nagravision is fully committed to the DVB standard and will contribute to SES ASTRA’s attractive plans to support both German and international manufacturers in offering to customers a large choice of Set-Top Boxes. We look forward to working together with SES ASTRA to support these plans."

“A reliable and future-proof encryption technology is a centre piece of our new digital infrastructure offer”, says Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA. “Our model is completely open and neutral to all operators and manufacturers and is aimed at offering to the market a transparent, accessible and non-proprietary technical solution for digital broadcasting over satellite. We have chosen the Nagravision system because it offers technological excellence, highest security and significant potential to manage the rising complexity of digital broadcast solutions. With Nagravision, we will be able to build an open and homogenous infrastructure with no technical barriers for all interested broadcasters including German Pay-TV channel Premiere".

About the Kudelski Group/Nagravision
The Kudelski Group (www.nagra.com) is a world leader in digital security. Its technologies are used in a wide range of applications requiring access control and rights management, whether for securing transfer of information (digital television, broadband Internet, video-on-demand, interactive applications, etc.) or to control and manage access of people or vehicles to sites and events. The Kudelski Group is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, and its stock is listed on the Swiss Market Index.

Nagravision (www.nagravision.com), a Kudelski Group company, is the world's leading independent supplier of open conditional access systems, DRM and integrated on-demand solutions for content providers and digital TV operators over broadcast and broadband platforms. Its technologies are currently being used by more than 100 leading Pay-TV operators worldwide securing content delivered to over 60 million active smart cards and devices.

For further information please contact:
Catherine Hugon
Corporate Communications Manager
Tel. +41 21 732 01 54
[email protected]

Ivan Schnider
Nagravision Marketing & Communications Manager
Tel. +41 21 732 09 40
[email protected]

About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com
The ASTRA Satellite System is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe, delivering services to some 103 million Direct-to-Home and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1400 analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions for DTH services are 19.2° East and 28.2° East. Professional services such as Direct-to cable (DTC), Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital position of 23.5° East.

SES ASTRA is an SES GLOBAL company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG). SES GLOBAL wholly owns two market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, and SES AMERICOM in the US. The Company also holds strategic participations in AsiaSat in Asia, Star One and Nahuelsat in Latin America, and SES SIRIUS in Europe. Additional info on SES GLOBAL at: www.ses-global.com.

For further information please contact:
Markus Payer
SES ASTRA
Tel. + 352 710 725 500
[email protected]