By
Leonid Tskhurbaev


Merrick Kingston

Set-top box deals

-Entone

Kentucky-based South Central Rural Telephone Coop (SCRTC) has selected Entone set-top boxes (STBs) for its HD IPTV service launch. Entone will ship its HD, MPEG-4, DVR-enabled Hydra gateway,  and the HD, MPEG-4, non-DVR Amulet set-top;  while the Hydra gateway and Amulet client boxes support multiroom-DVR (mDVR) applications, it is not clear that this functionality will be supported within the initial SCRTC implementation.

-Pace

Pace will supply German DTH operator Sky Deutschland with an HD DVR STB. The DVR is MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 compliant, and is ethernet-enabled; although the ethernet port will not be actively used within Sky's current service, the port will subsequently be enabled when the operator begins to offer VoD over IP.

Conditional access Deals

-China Digital TV

Venezuelan telco, CanTV has selected China Digital TV's CA platform for its pay-DTH service launch. While CanTV has been testing IPTV since 2009 and is expected to launch IPTV services in Q3 2010, DTH services will not become available before Q1 2011.

-NDS

NDS has secured two deployments of its CA system. German MSO Kabel Deutschland will introduce Common Interface Plus (CI+) conditional access modules embedded with NDS VideoGuard CA; Indian MSO Hathway has renewed its VideoGuard CA and MediaHighway middleware deals as part of its ongoing service enhancement.

-Verimatrix

Swiss MSO Finecom will deploy Verimatrix's VCAS for DVB CA system to secure its DVB-C/IP network. Finecom operates a traditional, DVB-C hybrid-fibre-coax (HFC) network, and is in the process of expanding the footprint of its FTTH network; the operator expects the FTTH network to support IP-based interactive services such as video-on-demand, in addition to high speed data.

Middleware Deals

-Nokia Siemens

US regional telco Daktel will deploy Nokia Siemens Networks (formerly Myrio) middleware for its IPTV launch, which will include DVR and VoD services; it is not yet clear whether the initial IPTV implementation will support HD services.

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