Farncombe has played a key role in the creation and launch of Germany’s first VOD service on cable for Kabel Baden-Württemberg (Kabel BW).
In a press release out this morning, Kabel BW said the service, Kabel BW Videothek, had met with “enthusiasm” from its subscribers.
Kabel BW engaged farncombe to advise on the VOD project from its inception, with farncombe helping to define the requirements for the service and its features, then supporting Kabel BW with vendor selection, architecture definition and design, as well as advising on the contractual aspects of the project.
Farncombe went on to play a key role in project-managing the system integration of Kabel BW Videothek, working closely with Kabel BW’s Product Management, Engineering, Billing and CRM, Customer Support and Operational teams.
Full text of the press release here. German-language version here.
Tag Archives: Farncombe
Farncombe supports KBW VOD launch
Farncombe Consulting proposes replacement for DVB Common Scrambling Algorithm
Farncombe Consulting Group, which hosts this blog, has published a second White Paper on TV Conditional Access (CA), which proposes a possible replacement for the DVB Common Scrambling Algorithm (CSA).
This is the hardware-based digital TV encryption technology mandated under European Law and which underpins today’s DVB-based pay-TV sector.
Farncombe’s in-house video security experts think it’s overdue for a replacement, arguing that – although it was introduced for the best possible motives in the early 1990s – the technology now raises serious commercial, regulatory and technical concerns for the digital pay-TV industry.
For instance, they point out, the CSA was designed for an era when operators were keen to avoid their content being distributed to PCs, and where broadband did not exist as a distribution medium. But neither of these factors apply today. This means operators are saddled with a technology which makes content distribution more difficult, and is not only already vulnerable to piracy but poised to become increasingly so.
In the White Paper, Farncombe accordingly proposes a next-generation replacement for the CSA, based on a ‘toolkit’ approach which mixes both hardware and software elements.
This will take time to implement, however. In the meantime, operators who upgrade their installed receiver base without addressing the security flaws in the CSA approach risk wasting their investment. Farncombe notes that the nature of this weakness is such that it only takes one hacked receiver to allow control words to be fed over broadband to any legacy DVB STB and enable pay-TV content to be pirated.
This implies that the industry needs to introduce a replacement as soon as possible.
A PDF of the new White Paper can be obtained from Farncombe by clicking here (or by pasting the following URL into your browser: http://www.farncombe.eu/index.php?menu=4.4) and filling in a simple registration form. Farncombe will then personally send you a copy.
Farncombe: Pay-TV shift to two-way networks will mean move away from smartcard-based conditional access systems
Farncombe Consulting Group, which hosts this blog, has just published a new White Paper on how the Digital TV Conditional Access sector will be affected by the shift towards broadband-enabled pay-TV networks.
Written by Farncombe’s own highly-experienced group of in-house video security experts, the White Paper assesses the pros and cons of using smartcard-based and cardless systems in different types of pay-TV set-up, ranging from traditional one-way broadcast TV operations to broadband-enabled two-way IP and connected home networks.
The paper concludes that while smartcards continue to remain the solution of choice for protecting one-way systems, cardless-based solutions are preferable for protecting video content in IPTV, ‘over-the-top’ and home networking contexts.
For one-way networks migrating to broadband connectivity, meanwhile, both types of system have their advantages, depending largely on the availability, reliability and quality of the broadband network.
The White Paper’s authors go on to suggest that since the traditional one-way pay-TV world is slowly but surely changing into a two-way one, it is likely that there will be a gradual shift away from smartcard-based systems in favour of cardless ones – led by the digital cable sector.
A PDF of the new White Paper can be obtained from Farncombe by clicking here and filling in a simple registration form.
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