29/06-09   -   Press releases

NDS to Integrate Pontis’ Marketing Delivery Platform with the NDS Unified Headend

NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, has teamed up with Pontis to integrate its Marketing Delivery Platform™ (MDP) with the NDS Unified Headend™. The integrated solution will enable digital pay-TV operators to up-sell and cross-sell services to their subscribers more effectively by giving them the ability to create real-time, personalised offers, promotions and content recommendations on both linear and VOD channels. The solution will help operators to improve the customer experience and raise ARPU by delivering relevant, contextual offers and recommendations to subscribers.

The award-winning NDS Unified Headend integrates conditional access (CA), Digital Rights Management (DRM) and third-party applications, allowing operators to deliver secure broadcast and on-demand services to a variety of devices – including set-top boxes (STBs), mobile phones, PCs, portable media players (PMPs) and digital video recorders (DVRs) – using a common infrastructure.

The Pontis Marketing Delivery Platform is a comprehensive system for automating the creation and delivery of targeted offers and recommendations across TV, mobile and fixed-line platforms.

Nigel Smith, NDS Chief Marketing Officer, said: “Technology that helps to improve the customer experience can be a key differentiator for service providers as they strive to reduce churn and raise ARPU. By integrating Pontis’ Marketing Delivery Platform with the NDS Unified Headend, we are providing pay-TV operators with an effective mechanism for developing personalised and contextual offers, promotions and content recommendations to subscribers on a multiplicity of networks and devices."

Alon Werber, Pontis VP Marketing & Business Development, added: “The integrated solution allows operators’ marketing managers to cross-sell, promote and make recommendations that are relevant to customers and are based on real-time information. For example, households that frequently order children’s films using VOD, could be automatically offered an upgrade, perhaps with a special discount, to a premium kids’ TV channel just before the start of the summer vacation period."

NDS and Pontis will be showing ‘proof of concept’ scenarios at the NDS booth at IBC 2009 September 11-15. The two companies will jointly market the solution to pay-TV operators.

About NDS

NDS Group Ltd. creates the technologies and applications that enable pay-TV operators to securely deliver digital content to TV STBs (set-top boxes), DVRs (digital video recorders), PCs, mobiles and other multimedia devices. Over 70 of the world’s leading pay-TV platforms rely on NDS solutions to protect and enhance their businesses. VideoGuard® is the world’s market-leading conditional access (CA) and digital rights management (DRM) technology, currently deployed on 104 million active devices, and safeguarding pay-TV service revenues exceeding $40 billion. NDS middleware, including MediaHighway® which enables a host of advanced services for subscribers, has been deployed on 115 million devices. NDS DVR technology, centred around XTV™, leads the global industry with 19 million units deployed. (Deployment figures as of 31st March 2009).

Headquartered in the UK, NDS remains committed to investing in R&D with over 75% of its employees dedicated to pioneering work at development centres in China, Denmark, France, India, Israel, Korea, UK and US. NDS has also implemented a host of initiatives aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and helping digital TV subscribers reduce energy consumption.

NDS Group Ltd. is a private company owned by the Permira Funds and News Corporation. See www.nds.com for more information.

About Pontis

Pontis is the creator of the world’s first Marketing Delivery Platform™ (MDP) designed to enable communication service providers to maximise the marketing relevance for each customer through the dynamic adaptation of the product offer and purchase experience.

Using the Pontis MDP, marketers can package, re-price, cross sell and recommend services across lines of business using a large variety of best practice Business Templates™.

Giving communication service providers the ability to mix and match highly relevant offers based on real time user behaviour and triggers significantly enhances all aspects of customer relationship management and has been proven to deliver double digit improvements in ARPU, accelerate service adoption and to reduce churn.

The Pontis MDP is deployed in many tier 1 TV and mobile operators across the world. To find more about Pontis visit www.pontis.com.