Austar Signs With Thomson For Digital Recorder Technology At Home

TECH SPACE

Sydney Australia (SPX) Nov 16, 2005
Thomson and Austar have announced the signing of an agreement for the delivery of Personal Digital Recorders (PDR) to support the launch of Austar's PDR service across regional and rural Australia from mid 2006.

In winning this contract, Thomson has reinforced its Two-Year Plan commitment to broaden both its media and entertainment product offering and client base globally, including in the Asia-Pacific region.

Major Digital Satellite Operator in the Region

With a coverage area of approximately 2.4 million homes and an existing base of almost 526,000 subscribers, Austar is Australia's second largest subscription television operator and the largest operator in its market of regional and rural Australia. Marking Thomson's first entry into the Australian Subscription-TV market, delivery of the Austar Personal Digital Recorders is due to commence mid 2006.

Cutting-edge PDR Technology

Breaking new ground in PDR technology, the Thomson solution comprises 4 tuners and is designed for both digital satellite and terrestrial reception. Inclusion of Free-to-Air (FTA) technology will enable Austar to offer its subscribers a seamless digital entertainment experience across both delivery platforms without the need for a separate FTA digital tuner.

Supporting advanced services, this two-way interactive digital set-top box with built-in 160 Gigabyte hard disk to store TV and video content incorporates OpenTV's next-generation middleware, OpenTV Core and PVR 2.0, and Irdeto Access technology for conditional access.

"In opting for Thomson's PDR, our customers will enjoy the best interactive television experience, watching what they want, when they want," said John Porter, CEO of Austar.

"This agreement allows Austar to capitalize on Thomson's global leadership in set-top box and PDR technology. It will further expand our service offering and expand our subscriber base by offering our customers greater control, choice and flexibility than ever before," he added.

"We are delighted to have been appointed Austar's supplier for PDR technology," said Koen van Driel, Senior Vice President, Satellite, Terrestrial & Cable Business Unit, Thomson.

"In choosing Thomson, Austar has demonstrated its confidence in our innovation and expertise in the delivery of cutting-edge digital content delivery solutions.

Following on the heels of our being chosen as number one supplier of cable set-top boxes to Singapore-based cable operator StarHub in October and thanks to our relationship with Malaysian multi-channel TV service provider Astro, for example, this marks a further strengthening of Thomson's presence in the Asia-Pacific region," he concluded.

Information on Personal Digital Recorder Technology

PDR is an advanced set-top box technology that allows users to record and save hours and hours of TV programming on its hard drive to view any time that suits them. Users can pause and re-wind live programming, record more than one channel at once, find and record whole series instantly, and much more.

TECH SPACE

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