Viasat switches off legacy encryption system

net1

Modern Times Group, announced that Viasat Broadcasting has switched off the legacy ‘Viaccess' encryption of its premium pay-TV channels in the Nordic region (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland). This follows the successful implementation of NDS ‘VideoGuard' conditional access technology on the Viasat DTH platform.

The switch-off of the old system will render ‘pirate' pay-TV cards useless as pirate cardholders will no longer be able to receive the Viasat packages of premium pay-TV channels. Viasat broadcasts both its own and third party entertainment channels digitally via satellite and had 436,000 premium subscribers at the end of the second quarter of this year (30 June 2004).

The migration has been implemented via the downloading of software to subscribers' TV set-top decoders and the distribution of new smart cards. Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: "The project has been delivered on schedule and is one of the first times that a satellite pay-TV broadcaster has migrated its subscriber base to a new conditional access system. We have accomplished the migration at low cost and made the transition as simple as possible for existing customers."