ASTRA Platform Services (APS), an SES ASTRA company, announced today that it will invite manufacturers of satellite TV receivers to participate in its project to further develop the digital broadcasting infrastructure in Germany. In order to allow manufacturers to decide whether they wish to develop suitable Set-Top-Boxes, APS will disclose and hand out information on basic technical specifications to all interested manufacturers in the course of March and inform manufacturers in a specially dedicated workshop later.
The specifications have been developed by APS in consultation with various Set-Top-Box manufacturers. They lay down basic requirements that are designed to ensure the security, stability and interoperability of the new receiver population and the possibility for broadcasters to offer attractive new services via the infrastructure. They do not restrict further individual technical developments and the inclusion of additional features by each manufacturer.
SES ASTRA had announced last week that it will enhance its digital services and offer a new infrastructure for Free-TV, Pay-TV and additional interactive services. The offer will consist of services like encryption of programme signals, smart card distribution and registration for access. It complements SES ASTRAs existing service offering that includes the grant of access to the Premiere satellite decoder population.
The new infrastructure will be open to all interested manufacturers and broadcasters including German Pay-TV channel Premiere.