Widevine (News - Alert) Technologies, a provider of multi-format, multi-platform DRM and digital copy protection solutions, today said that Taipei, Taiwan -based Chunghwa Telecom has purchased an additional 450,000 Cypher Virtual SmartCard clients from Widevine.

 

According to Widevine, a set-top box or other consumer device utilizes a downloadable Cypher Virtual SmartCard client that binds the identity of the device so that subscribers only get the content they have paid for. In addition, Cypher Virtual SmartCard clients enable operators to combat piracy on set-top boxes, personal video recorders and other devices within the home.

 

Chunghwa Telecom (News - Alert) officials said that this additional purchase is an effort to accommodate subscriber expansion and in-home network proliferation with existing subscribers

 

Officials said that the continued demand for Chunghwa’s television service has been driven by the introduction of existing Hollywood premium content, HD programming and exclusive rights to Olympics coverage.

 

Chunghwa provides Taiwan with telecommunications services, including telephone, mobile, leased-line, Internet access, and other services. The company’s interactive TV service, Multimedia on Demand (MOD), is one of the largest IPTV (News - Alert) deployments in the world based on number of devices deployed.

 

“We are pleased to utilize Widevine’s content protection to secure content for our subscribers who continue to seek us for our exceptional service offering,” said Cheng Chin-Min, PhD, managing director of multimedia department at Chunghwa.

 

He also said that Widevine is a “critical enabler” of company’s business model and service offerings, especially as the company looks to expand their footprint to multiple consumer devices.

 

Widevine Cypher secures the entire Chunghwa footprint—enabling multimedia service delivery across multiple consumer devices within the home.

 

“What’s more, their content protection solutions have proven scalable to meet our highly aggressive growth requirements leading up to the Olympics and beyond,” added Cheng.

 

Brian Baker, CEO at Widevine, said that as the company continues to enable managed network operators to secure multimedia services to multiple consumer platforms, Widevine is confident its support of Chunghwa will enable all 4.1M subscribers to share in the vision of exceptional TV services into the home and beyond.

 

Last month, Seattle-based Widevine announced that it has been selected by Netmax.tv, a global provider of multi-language ethnic television and entertainment, to enable secure distribution of targeted, geo-specific programming to a worldwide audience of Hollywood / Bollywood / Worldwide content enthusiasts.