NDS Delivers Content Protection to SOFTBANK Broadmedia Corporation for First Large-scale ADSL Secure Pay-TV System

Business Wire, Sept 10, 2002

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

IBC 2002

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10, 2002

Highlights:

- NDS to supply content protection and smart cards to Japan's BB Cable TV, a division of SOFTBANK Broadmedia Corporation, for the world's first large-scale ADSL pay-TV deployment

- NDS's Synamedia(TM)software solutions to ensure high-value content is protected

- BB Cable TV to launch in Japan in Autumn 2002

NDS Group plc, a News Corporation company and a leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV has announced that it will provide content protection to BB Cable TV in Japan. This will be the world's first launch of a secure pay-TV service using IP over ADSL on a large scale.

BB Cable TV will use NDS's Synamedia(TM) software suite at the head-end and NDS smart cards for use in subscriber set-top boxes (STB). Club iT will launch the BB Cable TV service through its wholly-owned subsidiary BB Cable Corporation in Autumn 2002 initially in 23 Wards of Tokyo then extending to Saitama-city, Chiba-city, and Yokohama later in 2002 and Sapporo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Fukuoka from Spring 2003

SOFTBANK Corporation's ADSL service, Yahoo! BB, was launched in September 2001 and is the fastest growing broadband network in Japan. The service has achieved 885,000 subscribers by the end of August 2002 (up 106,000 from the end of July). As an extension to this service, BB Cable TV will initially offer 13 channels through STBs and extend to Video on Demand (VOD) and Near Video on Demand (NVOD) services later.

Taro Hashimoto, CEO of SOFTBANK Broadmedia Corporation, Club iT Corporation and BB Cable Corporation, said: "We are confident that this service will change the way that viewers perceive the variety of converging medias, whether television or internet-based. We selected NDS because of their unprecedented record of protecting content revenues for platforms. BB Cable TV views this as a critical factor for a high value content provider. We are developing long-term solutions and believe that NDS will remain a value partner in ensuring the success of our BB Cable TV service."

NDS's Synamedia solutions will provide content protection at each stage of the transmission process for broadcast and VOD services. NDS's StreamShaper enables broadcast content to be encrypted and encapsulated for distribution through the IP network. StreamShaper is the only solution of its type for broadcast. NDS's XTV Server(TM) and XTV Encryptor(TM) enables VOD content to be protected, encrypted and enhanced prior to release on to the broadband network, giving PVR functionality on the STB without the need for a hard-disk, thus reducing unit cost. Also, NDS will supply smart cards for subscriber use in STBs.

VideoGuard(TM), NDS's broadband content protection solution, will allow BB Cable TV to grow its revenue streams through the delivery of high-value content using proven encryption methodology. VideoGuard is fully integrated with XTV-Encryptor, XTV-Server and StreamShaper.

Nigel Smith, Director Broadband, NDS Group plc, commented: "BB Cable TV will be the world's most advanced iTV solution over a broadband IP infrastructure, with content protection being a key factor to ensure the supply of high-value content. NDS's experience of developing tailored solutions according to need is possible through our software applications, which provide for varied needs and situations. Synamedia is a proven system at delivering revenue-based content, ensuring a platform's security and benefits."

NDS will work alongside other suppliers, including Thirdspace and Samsung to provide the largest solution of its kind in the world today. The delivery of the system to BB Cable TV is the first commercial implementation of the integration of the NDS Synamedia system and the Thirdspace OVS video server, OVC video client and OVA user interface application.

About NDS

NDS Group plc (NASDAQ/NASDAQ Europe:NNDS) is a leading supplier of open end-to-end digital pay TV solutions for the secure delivery of entertainment and information to television set-top boxes and personal computers. See http://www.nds.com/ for more information about NDS.

About SOFTBANK Broadmedia Corporation

SOFTBANK Broadmedia Corporation is a broadband contents and application unit of SOFTBANK. Club iT, a contents aggregation and marketing company and a subsidiary of SOFTBANK Broadmedia Corporation is at the center of the BB Cable TV Service and will launch the service through its wholly-owned subsidiary, BB Cable Corporation.

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