30 Minute Interview

“Cable operators are feeling the heat”

Benjamin Lian Director of Technology APAC, Irdeto

Does content protection hold relevance for India?

As there is growing concern about content protection, companies across the globe are coming with various solutions like IPTV, mobile TV and digital TV. We play in the digital content protection solution market by providing solutions for digital TV, IPTV and mobile environments. Irdeto has had a presence in the market for over 30 years. It designs, develops and markets end-to-end content protection solutions like Conditional Access, Digital Rights Management and Open Mobile Alliance to protect digital content on any device delivered over any network whether digital TV, IPTV or mobile TV.

IPTV seems to be the buzzword. How do you see India transitioning into this space?

Though for the past decade it has been suggested that IPTV will rule the entertainment segment, it has not gained so much. The capital cost of deployment was very high, but with the coming of new technology, prices are decreasing. It’s time to figure out the difference between what you get from IPTV services and what you get from the traditional cable and even DTH. Today IPTV technology is gaining tremendous industry momentum…there is aggressive deployment among service providers worldwide and in India. With MTNL, BSNL and private telecom operators ready with their pilot models, access to IPTV at home can start anytime after mid-2006.

What is your view on content piracy in India?

Content piracy is a major concern for the Indian subcontinent. People have to be educated to realise the negative effects of piracy. If piracy would be under control, then everyone in the value chain would benefit. Cable operators are looking at digital migration. To provide higher quality, greater loyalty from their clients, and content protection, it is essential for operators to control piracy. A content protection system gives a lot of opportunities for multi-operators. The cinema industry can maximise its profits through digital content security solutions. As a company policy, we deploy new smart card technology every 12-18 months irrespective of whether the system has been compromised or not to stay one step ahead of pirates.

There are huge opportunities for companies like Irdeto in the Indian market. As Indian customers are always on the look-out for newer technologies and are price-sensitive, it’s a challenge for us to do business here. DTH and DTO platforms have thus far been the focus for us in this market, but the growing interest in the IPTV and mobile TV sectors offer great opportunities for their broad offering of proven products as well. Irdeto is getting genuinely good response from the traditional cable market in India. Cable operators are feeling the heat from the DTH and IPTV. We started with five customers in India last year, but this has now increased to 20. We are focussing on new customer acquisitions.

Telcos are growing at a rapid rate. To tap the Indian market we are talking to some prospective customers like cable operator associations, BPOs, telcos and mobile operators in India. We are planning to focus on other verticals like television channels and the government, which has been a major client for us.

— CJ