Dish TV India mulls CAS upgrade


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 13 November 2015





Indian direct-to-home (DTH) operator Dish TV is considering upgrading to a multi-layer conditional access system (CAS) to improve content security and system efficiency.


If adopted, the upgrade would require the deployment of set-top boxes (STBs) featuring cardless technology.

"In view of expanding business and service requirements, Dish TV recently issued a CAS request for proposal (RFP) to leading CAS vendors across the globe. Companies that expressed interest include some of the world's leading CAS providers including Irdeto, Viaccess, Pace, Verimatrix, Cisco, Nagra, Nstv, Conax, Civolution-Nexguard, CRI and SMI. Dish TV is currently evaluating all proposals received on a strict core security benchmark and shall select multiple partners keeping its business interests in mind," the company told The Economic Times in a statement.

The Essel Group-owned Dish TV has more than 13 million subscribers to its satellite service, and currently uses Conax card-based conditional access system from Nagra.

The conversion to multi-layer CAS would result in the deployment of between 15-20 million STBs over a five-year period, with the selection process expected to be completed by the end of this year.