Mumbai: NDS announced that since opening its R&D Centre in Bangalore in 2000, it has invested over $120 million in India. NDS now plans to increase investment in its Indian R&D Centre and commercial offices over the next three years to support the accelerating digitization of pay-TV across the nation and worldwide.
NDS solutions, centering around VideoGuard conditional access technology, safeguard over $65 million in revenue in India annually by helping pay-TV operators deliver content to their audiences securely. Teams of engineers from NDS India are working on solutions for local operators including Bharti Airtel, Digital Entertainment Network (DEN), Hathway and Tata Sky, demonstrating NDS’ commitment to helping its customers deliver an enhanced viewing experience to an estimated 16 million Indian viewers.
On a worldwide basis, 26 per cent of NDS employees are based in India, making the Indian operation the second largest in the NDS global network and providing jobs and training to over 1,000 staff.
The NDS Bangalore R&D facility is instrumental in designing unique solutions tailored to the Indian audience as well as creating solutions for leading global platforms. Projects developed in Bangalore include interactive TV applications (iTV), including games and multilingual electronic programme guides (EPGs).
Discussing DEN’s strategy in India CEO Anuj Gandhi said: "As the latest entrant in the cable space, DEN has been aggressively focused on continuously innovating to deliver more channels and services to its subscribers. NDS is an important partner for us as they offer the combination of local support and leading edge TV services, both of which are essential in the innovation process and help us achieve customer delight."
Hathway managing director and chief executive officer K Jayaraman said, "Hathway’s partnership with NDS has resulted in an exceptional viewing experience for our subscribers. In addition to VideoGuard CA and MediaHighway middleware, we are offering a customized electronic programme guide, and interactive applications and we are the first Indian MSO to offer the NDS XTV DVR (digital video recorder). By working with NDS we can offer our subscribers control over what they watch and when."
NDS chairman and CEO Dr. Abe Peled said, "With our R&D centre and commercial support offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, NDS is committed to the Indian market and to developing and providing industry-leading pay-TV solutions for subscribers there. We are proud that within a few years our R&D centre in Bangalore has become central to our worldwide operations."
