Mumbai, Maharasthra, NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today applauded Hathway, the leading digital cable provider in India, on its strategy of funding further digital TV growth via an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Hathway, an acknowledged cable TV innovator in India and a long-time customer of NDS, plans to use the proceeds from the listing on the two leading Indian bourses to: seed more digital set-top boxes; introduce new digital pay-TV services; expand its broadband business; and acquire Last Mile Operators (LMOs).
As Hathway technology partner, NDS will play a key role in the next phase of the Indian cable operator digital transition strategy. Hathway has a history of firsts in the Indian cable TV market, underpinned by NDS technologies including VideoGuard® conditional access, MediaHighway® set-top box software, XTV™ DVR technology and an NDS developed electronic programme guide (EPG).
NDS will help Hathway, post IPO, to develop additional digital pay-TV revenue streams through the development and deployment of advanced interactive solutions, next-generation EPGs and other innovative applications. As well as increasing ARPU, these new customer offerings will help to improve subscriber SStickiness.
"With competition intensifying in the Indian digital pay-TV market, Hathway decision to undertake an IPO to fund further growth is a sensible move," said Alan Dishington, General Manager, NDS India. "We are committed to working closely with Hathway post-IPO to deliver a raft of appealing, affordable and innovative solutions and services to their growing subscriber base."
"NDS continues to be a key partner for us as we move into the next phase of our planned expansion," commented K Jayaraman, Managing Director & CEO, Hathway. Not only does NDS offer the most secure encryption for pay-TV, it also enables us to offer India first DVR service on a cable platform, and provides a middleware roadmap that will allow us to continue to innovate."
Notes to Editor
About Hathway
Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited is the cable and broadband Internet arm of The Rajan Raheja Group. The Group has diversified interests in a multitude of businesses with great emphasis on being market leaders in their respective areas. See www.hathway.com for more information about Hathway.
About NDS
NDS Group Ltd. creates the technologies and applications that enable pay-TV operators to securely deliver digital content to TV STBs (set-top boxes), DVRs (digital video recorders), PCs, mobiles and other multimedia devices. Over 70 of the world leading pay-TV platforms rely on NDS solutions to protect and enhance their businesses. VideoGuard® is the world market-leading conditional access (CA) and digital rights management (DRM) technology, currently deployed on 116 million active devices, and safeguarding pay-TV service revenues exceeding $40 billion. NDS middleware, including MediaHighway® which enables a host of advanced services for subscribers, has been deployed on 135 million devices. NDS DVR technology, centred around XTV™, leads the global industry with 25 million units deployed. (Deployment figures as of 31st December 2009).
Headquartered in the UK, NDS remains committed to investing in R&D with over 75% of its employees dedicated to pioneering work at development centres in China, Denmark, France, India, Israel, Korea, UK and US. NDS has also implemented a host of initiatives aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and helping digital TV subscribers reduce energy consumption.
NDS Group Ltd. is a private company owned by the Permira Funds and News Corporation. See www.nds.com for more information.
