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NDS, SES Americom team up to offer secure IPTV solutions for telcos
MUMBAI: Digital pay-TV technology solutions provider NDS has entered an agreement with SES Americom, a leading satellite operator and services provider in North America, to support their IP-Prime IPTV distribution solution with NDS Synamedia.
Synamedia is a secure IP solution for two-way IPTV network operators. IP-Prime is a centralised, satellite-delivered IP television delivery system that permits telcos to bundle traditional standard and HD programming on a single line with their voice and internet services.
The new offering enables telecommunications companies to offer secure, premium TV services to their customers. SES Americom will deliver up to 300 channels encoded into MPEG-4/H.264 via their IP-Prime platform, offering telcos a more efficient and robust transmission path.
The Synamedia solution, integrated with NDS VideoGuard content protection and digital rights management, will offer SES Americom a secure platform for the delivery of multi-channel pay-TV and video on demand (VOD) services to customers using a broadband IP connection.
Based on the proven NDS VideoGuard conditional access solution, NDS Synamedia protects content at all stages of delivery — from the broadband access point through the last mile to the IP consumer device, such as a set-top box or digital video recorder (DVR). Once content is received inside the home, VideoGuard protects the valuable digital content from piracy, whether it is stored locally or routed through a home network.
The solution for SES Americom features VGS, a secure headend-based content protection solution from NDS. The hardware-based solution does not require a smart card in the consumer device. The decryption capability is embedded within the device’s standard video processor chip, which communicates securely with the NDS VGS network servers. NDS has worked closely with major chipset manufacturers to develop these secure video processors that can communicate with secure headend servers, providing strong content protection over two-way networks.
The new technical approach used in the VGS content protection solution is stronger than software-based and hardware-assisted solutions, because the content is decrypted entirely within the secure processing blocks in the processor.
Using NDS VGS technology, two-way networks provide a number of benefits, including safe network environment for authorisations, simplified upgrades to the system for enhanced functionality and security, and reduced set-top box costs. There is no security information stored in the set-top when it is switched off.
SES Americom’s IP-Prime platform offers two delivery solutions; one path delivers the secure video content to the Telcos for their distribution to consumers. Alternately, the IP-Prime content can be passed through directly to subscriber homes via secured set-top boxes. The NDS solution is integrated into both IP-Prime options.
“SES Americom has earned the trust of leading programmers in cable and broadcast, who are now entering the new world of IPTV aboard our reliable, secure distribution platforms. NDS is a recognized system security provider, enabling us to deliver a protected vital link in the long anticipated triple play for Telcos and markets beyond,” said SES Americom chief technology officer Alan Young.
“Telecommunications companies have shown great interest in the delivery of television services to the home, and we are very happy to work with SES Americom to help bring the IP-Prime solution to telcos of all sizes. Security is of primary concern to protect their revenues and to enable them to deliver high value content. This integrated solution provides a turnkey approach for the telecommunications providers, bringing television services to their subscribers – quickly, easily, and securely,” said NDS Group vice president and NDS Americas general manager Dr Dov Rubin.
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UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
