The scenario
Advances in mobile devices and media technologies have increased the popularity of mobile multimedia among consumers. And one of the value-added services driving new forms of revenue is premium audio and video content. Operators and service providers are continuously searching for ways to reduce customer churn rate while increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) and delivering increasingly richer media experiences to consumers via services such as mobile broadcasting is one excellent way to achieve this. TU Media was and is one of the pioneers in the field of mobile TV broadcasting, and was the first company in the world to decide to offer a paid service via Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (S-DMB).
The challenge
The concept of mobile digital broadcasting is relatively new, and its delivery posed several challenges for TU Media and their technology partners. Firstly, mobile networks are point-to-point in nature and are not optimized for broadcasting. Secondly, the usage profile and functionality of a mobile device is radically different from that of a traditional pay TV set-top box. The other significant issue TU Media faced was security. In any pay media broadcasting environment, operator revenues (e.g., monthly subscription and payper- view revenue) are only guaranteed if strong content security technology is deployed. Failure to adequately secure the content would result in content theft and loss of revenues. Therefore, ensuring revenue collection all content viewed became a top priority.
TU Media realized the situation had to be tackled on two fronts:
One was to develop a system that would support the efficient and cost-effective delivery of video and audio broadcast programs to customers via mobile devices. This required overlaying the existing mobile network with a new layer that is optimized for broadcast using terrestrial and satellite transmissions, much like normal digital pay TV. The second was to develop an effective content security solution to control access and protect revenue. For this, TU Media required a technology partner with a proven track record, a solid anti-piracy strategy and a long term view to developing, implementing and ensuring the continual integrity of their access control system for mobile broadcasting.
The solution
SK Telecom, a primary shareholder in TU Media, developed their S-DMB service; a new business concept in mobile entertainment that combines telecommunications and broadcast TV. The commercial service was launched in South Korea in May 2005.
The DMB signal is delivered to mobile devices via a satellite, supplemented by terrestrial gap fillers to cover shadow areas. This enables end-users to enjoy multi-channel, multimedia broadcasting on personal and portable devices such as mobile phones, PDAs and in-car devices. DMB is a more appropriate broadcasting technology for audio and video content in a mobile environment than 3G. It uses a suitable frequency spectrum, S-Band, for transmission in order to ensure quality and optimum signal reception. The technology also overcomes coverage, relative speed and cell handover issues experienced with traditional mobile networks.
TU Media's next step was to look for a solution to secure their revenue stream. For this, TU Media relied on Irdeto, a leading provider of content security solutions for digital TV, IPTV and mobile. To provide the world's first S-DMB content protection system for TU Media, Irdeto developed a new conditional access system (CAS) optimized for mobile broadcasting.
It is based on Irdeto's award-winning Irdeto Digital TV system, already in use by more than 300 satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasters worldwide.
In order to support TU Media's ambitious plans for growth, the Irdeto Mobile Broadcast CA solution secures content and manages entitlements for millions of subscribers. And in order to meet the highly constrained bandwidth requirements of the DMB environment, Irdeto developed a number of innovative new patented technologies.
The first was Dual Key Hierarchy, which reduces conditional access-related bandwidth consumption significantly and improves security integrity by targeting large groups of customers with a single CA message. It is the only viable and secure method for operators to manage millions of subscribers.
The second was Rapid Entitlement Refresh technology, which takes the unique nature of portable devices into account and compensates for the fact that they are not always turned on and receiving important entitlement messages. In addition, express entitlement messages can be delivered outof- band by Short Message Service (SMS) in order to guarantee delivery.
The new security system supports Korean Subscriber Management Systems and Electronic Program Guides. It can also support multiple revenue models, including subscription, pre-paid, pay-per-time, impulse pay-per-view and ordered pay-perview to maximize ARPU and reach every relevant market segment.
Why Irdeto
As the world's most-deployed conditional access provider, Irdeto has a proven track record in the pay media industry. The company's core competency is content security, and its position as the innovator in these technologies for broadcasting, broadband and mobile networks as well as its global presence and expertise have earned it a reputation as a trusted conditional access partner.
"Irdeto's core CA technology offers the highest level of protection and provides a robust content security solution for our satellite DMB service. They are our partner of choice as they have consistently demonstrated the development of customer solutions with a unique ability to innovate," concluded Dr. Ahn.
The Future
Today TU Media service offers customers 15 video channels, including one PPV channel and one free-to-air promotional channel, and 19 audio channels. To access the service, subscribers have the choice among more than 50 different devices including mobile phones, PDAs, PMPs, in-car devices and portable stand-alones. All have an integrated Irdeto solution in order to access the pay service.
After 20 months of operation, the total number of subscribers to TU Media SDMB services exceeds a million. This represents on average 1,600 new subscribers per day. The entrance fee is approximately US US$20 on top of the monthly subscription fee of US US$11. The typical profile of the consumer is male (63% of subscribers) in their 20's and 30's (60% of subscribers). The subscriber enjoys the service approximately 60 minutes a day on average and uses the service mostly during the commuting hours.
TU Media will continue to invest in the broadcast network and gap fillers in order to reduce shadow areas and expand coverage in subways and trains.
From its early leading position in mobile CA as TU Media's supplier of choice, Irdeto has deployed significant resources towards research, development and acquisitions in mobile content protection. Irdeto has continued to enhance the mobile CA system for S-DMB, and in addition has developed solutions to support DVB-H and T-DMB broadcasting networks as well. To date, Irdeto is the only content security company with deployments in all three types of networks.
