Irdeto delivers services through Arqiva Arqplex hybrid content processing
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Editor
| 19 April 2023
Cybersecurity provider Irdeto has selected global communications infrastructure and media services provider to deliver broadcast platforms to an audience of over 21 million people across 50 countries in South and Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Under the terms of the contract, a continuation of the companies’ existing partnership lasting over twenty years, Arqiva will provide managed services to Irdeto, part of The Multichoice Group, Africa’s leading entertainment company.

Arqiva will aggregate a mixture of 150 premium SD and HD channels and employ its new Arqplex hybrid content processing service to provide the encoding and multiplexing for 10 broadcast platforms. The line-up includes regionalised channels from Warner Bros Discovery to Paramount, NBCU and BBC services. These platforms will then be uplinked to the IS-20 satellite for direct-to-home (DTH) distribution. Two of the ten platforms have just launched, with the remaining eight expected to go live by April 2024.

The hybrid service is built on a cloud-based subscription model, removing said Arqiva the need for large capex investment in the latest technology advances. It added that this means Irdeto can expect technology upgrades and patches to be securely applied as soon as they are available, removing the need to source and install individual updates. As well as Arqiva’s expertise in systems integration, connectivity, and managed services, it is powered by MediaKind’s cloud-native multiplexing, encoding and packaging headend media processing technology.

Arqiva is confident that as Arqplex increases encoding efficiencies, the service will allow Irdeto to increase its channel density across their transponders creating space for new channels. From a sustainability perspective, Arqiva noted that additional efficiencies mean that the Arqplex system utilises 40% less power than legacy hardware encode and multiplexing systems.

“Arqiva is pleased to elevate its partnership with Irdeto with Arqplex. Irdeto’s trust reflects Arqiva’s credentials as a reliable broadcast technology partner for global media players,” said Gaurav Jandwani, executive director media & broadcast, Arqiva. “Arqplex provides Irdeto with secure and reliable content aggregation, encoding, multiplexing and packaging for content distribution. In an increasingly competitive African market, our service will reduce complexity, increase efficiency and deliver rapid speed to market for Irdeto.”

Andrew Bunten, chief operating officer for video entertainment at Irdeto added: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Arqiva. Our footprint in Africa has grown and it has been a competitive advantage to be able to meet these complex demands with an efficient, reliable and scalable solution. Arqiva’s operational teams fully manage and monitor the service, so we know our broadcasting is in safe hands.”