Singapore – Irdeto has announced that IMTV, the new broadcasting arm of Indonesia’s Lippo Group, has selected Irdeto Media Protection to securely deliver digital television content over BIGTV, a new DTH satellite service launched in September 2013. BIGTV uses IMTV’s satellite system to deliver more than 300 channels, featuring over 150 content providers, to subscribers across Indonesia. 

To secure premium content on BIGTV, IMTV is relying on Irdeto Cloaked CA. By replacing the need for smart cards, Cloaked CA eliminates the operational and logistics costs that would otherwise be required to ship and manage cards, thus lowering the total cost of ownership for IMTV.

“Pay-TV market penetration is only four percent out of 40 to 45 million television households in Indonesia, so the growth opportunity is tremendous,” said Felix Ali Chendra, CEO, IMTV. “We selected Irdeto because they are the leader in pay-TV security in Southeast Asia and have an excellent track record of working with leading operators and broadcasters across the world. As a new entrant in Indonesia’s competitive and vibrant pay-TV market, that is precisely the kind of experience and knowledge we were looking for.”

Analyst firm Pyramid Research forecasts pay-TV penetration in Indonesia to increase to nearly seven percent by 2015. Given this growth curve, IMTV is targeting 10 million subscribers over the next five years. BIGTV presents subscribers with a wide selection of channels including specialised offerings such as dialect language programmes and niche sports telecasts.

“The potential for growth in the Indonesian market is substantial and IMTV is well positioned to capitalise on that growth with BIGTV,” said Bengt Jonsson, Vice President Sales, APAC. “Irdeto Cloaked CA enabled IMTV to launch a wide variety of premium entertainment with full confidence that its business model and revenue was protected. We are pleased that IMTV has selected Irdeto Cloaked CA and look forward to working closely together to develop this exciting new offering in market.”  

Since launching Cloaked CA in 2011, Irdeiptvto has signed more than 30 pay-TV customers, including Asia-Pacific operators such as Sky New Zealand, Cable Thai Holdings, Manthan (India), OCN Shanghai, Telekom Malaysia and many more.