NDS opens Chinese R&D facility

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NDS supplies conditional access and technology solutions for digital pay-TV, and has opened a new R&D facility in China. The Shenzhen office will, additional to R&D, supply extra engineering and customer support. The new office will primarily focus on the development of software for advanced middleware, customised EPGs as well as end-to-end solutions all tailored to meet the specific needs of the Chinese pay-TV market.

NDS says it “firmly believes that creating new software and applications in China, involving and incorporating local technological expertise, is the best strategy for helping Chinese operators provide their customers with the services they want. NDS will increase staff levels in China by over 50% to support the new site, forming part of NDS’ ongoing expansion in China.”

They add: “Service providers are increasingly focused on monetising digital content following the introduction of the Ping-Yi process which will see the deployment of digital TV throughout China by 2015. In order to help them achieve this goal NDS will undertake development and integration projects dedicated to creating revenue-enhancing, quick-to-market services and applications like customised interactive services, games and user interfaces among other service enhancements.”

The increased investment in China will enable Chinese consumer electronics (CE) and set-top box manufacturers to work more closely with NDS’ global integration teams and gain access to important new export markets. This move mirrors the successful precedent already set for Korea’s CE industry following NDS’ establishment of its R&D facility in Seoul in 2001. Integration activities carried out at NDS Korea have, says NDS, helped generate over $2bn in revenues for Korean STB and CE vendors via deployments for NDS customers around the world.

“NDS first started working in China in 1998 and it remains a very important market for us. With this investment in Shenzhen, we can step up our development work with local vendors and provide our Chinese customers with solutions that are ideally suited to the local market,” said Sue Taylor, SVP/GM, NDS Asia Pacific, and Chairman, NDS China.

“Our increased presence in China will also allow Chinese CE and STB manufacturers to increase export revenues. This mirrors our approach in Korea, where we have supported Korean CE manufacturers for over eight years by providing them access to NDS’ global base of operators,” added Taylor.

NDS claims a “strong installed customer base” in China and the market for digital pay-TV services is continuing to grow fast. According to the Guideline Research, China had 45m digital cable connections in January 2009 and around two million IPTV subscriptions.

“The new NDS R&D facility in China, in conjunction with the existing Asia Pacific R&D centres in Bangalore and Korea are delivering customised local solutions for customers and play an increasingly pivotal role in the development of NDS’ next-generation core technologies. NDS is passionate about combining its worldwide resources and experience with local expertise to offer its customers the very best solutions for their particular markets,” says NDS.



Source:RapidTVNews