Mindport and DiviCom Announce Partnership; Open Architecture Advocates Team Up to Ensure Flexible Solutions for Next Generation of Digital Pay-TV
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1999--Mindport, the technology subsidiary of MIH Ltd. (Nasdaq:MIHL), and a leading global provider of convergence solutions for pay media, and DiviCom, a C-Cube (Nasdaq:CUBE) subsidiary and the world's leading provider of open solutions for digital television, today announced a strategic partnership encompassing technology integration and cooperative marketing activities.
Under the terms of the agreement, Mindport and DiviCom will enhance interoperability of their products and engage in joint marketing efforts by non-exclusively demonstrating their technologies in cable, satellite and wireless television applications.
In addition, both companies will continue to participate in the OpenCAS(TM) initiative for interoperable conditional access systems. The initiative was launched by Mindport, DiviCom, ABC/Disney, Cisco, Comcast, and other industry leaders in cable and broadcasting.
"As a strong advocate of open standards for digital cable, satellite, terrestrial and wireless applications and an end-to-end solutions provider, Mindport must ensure that we are able to deliver a best-of-breed solution to our customers," said Phil Braden, chief executive officer of Mindport Inc.
"Mindport recognizes the superiority of key DiviCom products. These include head-end compression systems, multiplex and interactive return channel technologies. This agreement now enables us to offer these DiviCom products to our customers world-wide as part of our end-to-end integrated solution."
"We are pleased to work with Mindport and excited about the prospect of better integrating the technology offerings of both of our companies," said DiviCom President Tom Lookabaugh. "This cooperative effort will serve the customers of both of our companies well as we continue to penetrate pay-TV markets worldwide."
Both companies have previously worked together to successfully integrate and deploy DiviCom's head-end multiplex technology with Mindport's Irdeto Access conditional access system.
The companies will now work to enhance integration of their current product offerings. This includes integration of DiviCom's InterSect interactive IP gateway with Mindport's Irdeto Access conditional access system, and the new Irdeto Access Point of Deployment (POD) removable security module that has recently been developed for North American OpenCable applications. DiviCom's Intersect technology provides cable operators the ability to deliver reliable bi-directional IP traffic to set-top boxes in an existing hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) system.
Western Cable '99 Show Demo
At the upcoming Western Cable trade show, DiviCom staff will demonstrate their products on the Mindport booth as part of Mindport's "OpenCable digital head-end partner pavilion," an integrated end-to-end open standards-based digital cable head-end platform. Mindport has created this demonstration by bringing together a number of partners to show operators that the open standards digital cable system is a reality today. (Western Cable Show dates are Dec. 15-17, 1999 at the Los Angeles Convention Center; Mindport booth is number 3031 in the west hall).
About DiviCom
DiviCom Inc. is a leading provider of open solutions for digital television. Products include audio/video encoding, data broadcast solutions, network management systems, consulting and integration services. Based on the MPEG-2, DVB and ATSC international standards, DiviCom products enable digital video broadcasting over a variety of networks including satellite, wireless, fiber and cable.
DiviCom Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of C-Cube Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq:CUBE), and both companies are based in Milpitas, Calif. C-Cube is the leading provider of digital video silicon solutions for the communications, consumer electronics and computer markets. C-Cube can be reached at 408/490-8000 or www.c-cube.com. DiviCom can be reached at 408/490-6700 or www.divi.com.
About Mindport
Mindport, the technology subsidiary of Nasdaq and AEX listed MIH Limited (Nasdaq:MIHL)(AEX:MIH), is a global solutions provider of media commerce technologies for pay-TV and the Internet, enabling platform and channel operators to maximize their e-business opportunities. Mindport has focused on the key areas of the required technology, including software and hardware, and is well placed to integrate them successfully.
The company operates in several focus areas to fulfill your requirements: Conditional Access, Customer Care and Billing, Interactive Set-top Box Operating Systems, System Integration and Consultancy, Set-top Boxes and Broadband Internet Systems.
Mindport has offices in the Netherlands (Hoofddorp), China (Beijing), USA (San Diego), South Africa (Johannesburg), Norway (Oslo), India (New Delhi) and Australia (Sydney).
Most of these businesses are 100% owned by Mindport. Mindport owns a majority shareholding in OpenTV (Nasdaq:OPTV)(AEX:OPTV), a leading provider of software that enables digital interactive television. OpenTV provides a complete end-to end solution for the development and delivery of interactive services via digital satellite, cable, and terrestrial broadcast.
Sun Microsystems is also a substantial minority shareholder. Other investors in OpenTV include America Online, General Instrument, Liberty Digital, News Corp. and Time Warner. OpenTV is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. and has European operations in France.
For further information visit Mindport online at www.mindportusa.com.
CONTACT:
Mindport Inc.
Joe Zaller, 858/618-4878, Fax 858/618-4864
jzaller@mindport.com
or
Mindport BV
Marianne Oosterbroek, +31 23 556 2527,
Fax +31 23 556 2512
moosterbroek@mindport.com
or
Burson-Marsteller
Catherine Maxwell, 415/591-4025, Fax 415/591-4030
catherine-maxwell@sfo.bm.com
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