Irdeto says it has now shipped 3 million security devices for the Korean mobile TV system, S-DMB. These devices include surface mounted device chips and SIMs (subscriber identity modules) which go to protect around 1.1 million S-DMB customers for the TU Media satellite based service.
Korea’s broadcasters have got behind the rival T-DMB terrestrial system which has now overtaken the original and earlier launched S-DMB, but that doesn’t mean that the TU Media system is going to lie down.
It is tough to get good enough content for the S-DMB service to keep it growing, because the local broadcasters have control over much of this and they support the free to air T-DMB. But S-DMB has the weight of SK Telecom behind it and because it is a paid for service cellular operators are keen to support it over the free to air T-DMB service.
S-DMB has 15 video and 19 audio broadcast channels and there are already 90 different devices which can view the TV phones, PDAs, in-car devices and portable multimedia players made by the usual suspects and especially by Samsung, LG and Motorola which all use the Irdeto system.
Besides S-DMB, Irdeto also has built content protection for DVB-H operations in South Africa and Hungary, and T-DMB operations in Germany and it says it now supports the security spec adopted by the FLO Forum, for MediaFLO. Almost a full set.