TIA Member Spotlight:

TIA welcomes one of its newest members, Latens!

Latens has developed an industry-leading software solution to enable broadcast and broadband IPTV operators to secure content, protect revenues and operate more efficiently. Latens’ pioneering design of downloadable, software based Conditional Access Systems is based on the company’s patented Secure Software Module technology and management systems, which ensure that all operators can now cost-effectively maximize security. Latens also designs software components that interoperate with Latens Conditional Access Systems (CAS) to increase an operator’s flexibility and efficiency while simplifying the launch of new revenue generating services, such as video on demand (VOD), personal video recorder (PVR) and network PVR. Founded in 2002, Latens is the world’s fastest growing conditional access supplier. The company is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with offices in Atlanta, London and Singapore. For more information, please visit: www.latens.com.

Dean Kashlan, Latens’ general manager and vice president Americas, has over 20 years of experience in the communications industry. Based in Atlanta, Ga., he is part of the management team and responsible for operations in the Americas. Prior to joining Latens, Dean held key positions with major telecommunications industry suppliers including Cisco, Lucent and Entone Technologies, where he was a member of the management team and leader of the company’s sales and partnership efforts in the Americas and EMEA. Dean holds an MBA from the Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a minor in Computer Engineering.

Dean spoke with TIA Network staff to tell us more about Latens.

Please describe your company’s product offerings.  

FCAS
Latens Foundation CAS (FCAS) is an entry level IPTV conditional access system for smaller operators and start-ups that is upgradeable as the IPTV operation grows in size and complexity. FCAS is already integrated with a wide variety of IP Middleware, set top box, VOD and headend vendors. This minimizes cost and risk and allows a wide breadth of choice when selecting components for deployment.

CAS
The Latens CAS is a next generation, standards compliant, software-only conditional access system optimized for the broadband digital cable market. The system is based on the knowledge and experience of the cable industry presented by standards developed by the Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB®) and Cablelabs. Using these standards, we have taken a fresh look at the technical advantages created by the innovative use of improvements in software security to design a standards-based CA solution that provides cable operators with all the advantages of software-based CA.

IP CAS
Latens IPCAS is a software-based CA system specifically tailored for the unique demands of larger IP network operators. The system has been built using knowledge gained from the Pay TV industry combined with new possibilities enabled by technical improvements in software security, set-top box (STB) design and the architecture of two-way networks. Latens IPCAS is a technically advanced solution providing unsurpassed levels of security and flexibility for telco’s and IPTV operators. Uniquely, Latens IPTV CA solutions have been designed to scale to protect operators with millions of subscribers.

BCAS
Latens BCAS is a next-generation, software only, DVB® compliant conditional access system designed for operators of broadcast cable, satellite and digital terrestrial networks. BCAS is the first software-based solution for networks without an always on return path and is still the only such commercially-available solution. All the key advantages of the Latens family of products, such as low cost of ownership, dynamic renewability and proven scalability are available in the BCAS solution.

Latens BCAS is DVB® Simulcrypt-compliant and can easily be integrated with existing DVB® head-ends and muxes. It also means it can be “Simulcrypted” with existing DVB® CA systems, providing operators a smooth transition to new populations of lower-cost set-top boxes.

ECOSystem
Latens ECOsystem integrates Latens IPCAS with headend management tools and established STB client middleware and browser technology to provide a high-performance and open IPTV service delivery platform aimed primarily at IPTV operators aiming to scale from 100,000 to millions of customers.

Latens ECOsystem enables network operators to provide advanced secure IPTV services. This service delivery platform sets new standards in viewer experience, flexibility, scalability and performance to meet the needs of rapidly growing IPTV operations worldwide. Latens ECOsystem comprises:

• Intuitive viewer software for navigation, selection and viewing of services
• High performance and a massively scalable system architecture
• Live and on-demand service management functionality
• Integrated best in class Conditional Access security
• Comprehensive portal set-up and system management software
• Extensive service management and administration facilities

Latens ECOsystem was launched in response to customer demand and has been designed based upon our wide experience in providing security systems for IPTV networks, as well as Latens’ Pay-TV experience, where scalability is critical. Based on this long experience, Latens understands that the most successful solutions are:

• Based wherever possible on open standards
• Designed to ease interoperation with upstream and downstream solutions from other vendors
• Designed to simplify the deployment of advanced new services, such as VOD, PVR and home shopping

Please give us an overview of Latens’ solutions for Broadband and Broadcast Networks.

Broadband
Latens provides broadband operators with Conditional Access/Digital Rights Management solutions, end-to-end management systems, and value added components that integrate with Latens security solutions to make life simpler and more profitable. Latens also works with a range of technology partners to provide pre-integrated “ecosystems” to reduce the cost and risk of implementation for the operator.

Broadcast
Digital broadcast delivery mechanisms – cable, satellite and digital terrestrial – have been hugely successful all round the world. Today around 150 million consumers obtain Pay TV through these delivery mechanisms. A penalty of this success is that broadcasters come under attack by the unscrupulous, which is why we design industrial strength CA for broadcasters. 

More than four years ago, Latens launched the first DVB®-compliant CA system that did not rely on smart cards or an embedded proprietary chip in the STB, aimed at two-way networks. Advances in technology made the new generation of CA systems a possibility. Still, most CA vendors resisted the change away from smart cards, but “software only” or “downloadable” CA is now the standard for IPTV deployments and is fast taking off in broadband cable in the United States and Europe. The advantages are simply too many to hold it back.

Now, with advances in set top box silicon design and software techniques, together with innovative design from Latens, “software only” CAS is available for one-way broadcast DVB® networks. This means the same advanced security, cost and business flexibility benefits can be made available to satellite DTH, digital terrestrial, and cable operators around the world.

You recently announced the integration between Latens CA and Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB). What are the advantages for US IPTV operators?

Being able to view and record high quality, high bit-rate HD content is particularly important in the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) IPTV market. The ADB and Latens combination also provides “future proofing” to IPTV operators that may want to increase the bandwidth allocated to HD streams in the future. The solution uses no additional hardware in the set-top box and is compliant with all IPTV middleware solutions. This joint solution is commercially available now, through Latens FCAS and Latens IPCAS IPTV security and the ADB-5810WX PVR. Latens’ cost-effective CA solution protects 100 percent of packets, in live viewing and in record and playback PVR mode.

Please tell us the value you gain from your TIA membership. 

As an active member of the telecommunications industry, Latens is keen to be part of an organization that promotes and facilitates standard compliance. We currently have over sixty telco customers in the United States, and we consider ourselves as part of this family. The management team at Latens represent over 100 years of combined experience in the Pay-TV industry. We have earned the respect of our telco customers because we bring credibility to the question of IPTV and its deployment. We look forward to continuing to advocate IPTV standards under an umbrella such as TIA, as we plan to be an active member of the organization.

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