Nagravision Deals Itself Into CableCARD Game
Some interesting stuff. Could CableCARD be having a come back?
The much-maligned CableCARD era may be headed toward an inevitable end, but there are apparently enough business opportunities still left for yet another company to enter the market with a security module that’s tailored for the US market and competes with Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO).
Nagravision SA , the video security arm of Kudelski Group , is working on a CableCARD based on its own conditional access system and hardware modules made by corporate cousin SmarDTV. The company hopes to get its CableCARD qualified by CableLabs before the end of 2010, according to company VP of business development Robin Wilson.
Nagravision hasn’t announced any US cable deals that would require a CableCARD that’s paired with its conditional access system. However, EchoStar Corp. LLC (Nasdaq: SATS), a historic Nagravision partner, is rumored to be in the running for CableOne ‘s next-gen box project. (See Cable ONE Sizes Up EchoStar, TiVo Set-Tops.)