Kudelski-Nagravision wants SCM CAM sector

Kudelski-Nagravision is still working to fortify its competitive position. SES/Astra, as is generally known, cooperates for some markets at least almost exclusively with Nagravision from Geneva in Switzerland. A few years ago, Premiere also decided in favour of Nagravision. SCM has developed CAM modules and lets them be produced in Asia. CAM modules (Conditional Access Modules) are extractable decryption modules. Digital receivers with Common Interface (CICAM receivers) can be upgraded with these modules for pay-TV, provided that a CAM module for the respective encryption system exists. Another precondition is that the respective CAM modules also meet the DVB standard.

Unfortunately, at that time, Premiere decided in favour of an own Common Interface specification. Therefore, the “old” Premiere Betacrypt 1 CAM modules do not work in normal CICAM receivers true to the DVB specification. Consequently, Premiere unnecessarily has refused a technological digital receiver base. After all, there were 1.9 million digital satellite CICAM receivers in Germany at the end of 2005. No Premiere CAM module with the Nagravision decryption system exists, and it will take a long time until there is such a module. However, Nagravision obviously recognizes that the subject Nagra CAM modules has to be tackled for the German speaking countries. Market analysts believe, Nagravision is basically interested in a special “on board chip” by SCM. SCM seems to be developing a chip, which makes it possible to put it on the printed circuit board of the digital receiver in order to make the respective boxes “smard card-less”. This means that in the near future these vulnerable smart cards will not necessarily have to be used any more.

As Digitalmagazin and INFOSAT already have reported for several times, the security of a CA decryption system basically relies on the smart card, although certain circles pretend something else due to self-interest reasons. The issue of the illegal Cerebro smart cards, which have appeared on the market recently, is a good example for this. With these cards, the Premiere and KDG pay-TV programmes were cracked. This was just a smart card issue.

If Nagravision adopts the respective technology of the on-board-smartcard-less-chips, Nagravision has its hand on this system. Other CA system providers witness this anxiously, because they cannot just go to SCM and buy the respective chips or the respective technology respectively but have to knock on the door of their competitor Nagravision. Nagravision competitors rate this as a distortion of competition.

At present, obviously many knotty strings have been yarned in such a manner that some market participants are allowed to share in and others are unshipped.

Contact:
Holger Crump
Editor in Chief, INFOSAT Euro Media S.A.
Tel. 00352/710 707 600
redaktion@infosat.info
www.infosat.info

This release was published on openPR.