Invest KOREA

Enabling More & Better Access

Nagra Korea provides services and solutions that innovate how we watch TV

You’ve probably noticed that TV watching isn’t what it used to be. Gone are the days of having to catch a program at a certain time, on a given channel and on a television, for that matter. Here are video on-demand, electronic program guides, movies on tablet PCs, even 3D programming. As the services and choices grow, operators and content owners need a way to manage it all. This is where Nagra comes in.

The Switzerland-based company, which offers security and multiscreen user experience products and solutions for the monetization of digital media, has done business with Korea for about a decade. It began by working with cable operators including C&M, Tbroad and CJ Hello Vision, and eventually forged a close relationship with Skylife, now KT Skylife. Nagra Korea was established two years ago to directly provide services and customer support locally. Today it provides technologies to almost 1.5 million homes domestically.

“We clearly wanted to increase our presence in Korea because we see Korea as a leading market for new technologies and new trends,” said Jean-Luc Jezouin, senior vice president and general manager of Asia for Nagra.

Part of Switzerland’s Kudelski Group, a provider of digital security and convergent media solutions, Nagra also started a joint venture with the Korean company Hantory Co. Ltd. in 2010 to adapt and customize its technologies according to the requirements of KT Skylife.

“In order to establish a healthy partnership, we recognize and understand cultural differences and the fact that people have different ways of operating in different countries,” Jezouin said. “That’s why we created a joint venture, so we can do it in the Korean way.”

Nagra has offices in 18 countries and offers systems and solutions over broadcast, broadband and mobile platforms. It provides operators with technologies to control content access, both to secure revenue from subscribers and protect material from illegal copying and distribution. It offers IPTV and cable service providers on-demand solutions that let us, the end users, watch what we want, when we want to, with the device we want. It lets digital TV service providers ensure seamless user experiences across everything from hybrid set-top boxes to smartphones.

Nagra also provides customers with products for managing their digital assets, service, delivery and advertising needs. A focus throughout its solutions is security.

“Good quality content is not free and should not be free,” Jezouin said. “Operators need to protect their investment.”

Nagra Korea does most of its business with KT Skylife, with nearly all of the latter’s high-definition subscribers using Nagra’s platform, according to Jezouin. Skylife has worked with Nagra Korea to expand its 3D offerings as well. Nagra Korea has also sold and deployed its security solutions through C&M and Tbroad.

Located in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, the company works closely with Korean set-top box manufacturers on the global level as well to help them succeed overseas.

“I would say that Korea tends to be one of the fastest countries in terms of agility and adapting quickly to the changing environment,” the general manager said.

Advertising is a key example of a fast-changing related industry, as viewing audiences are becoming increasingly fragmented and hard to track with their wide range of viewing technologies. Nagra offers solutions that help customers adjust who they target, and Jezouin and his team are trying to advance this concept in Korea.

Also on the horizon for Nagra Korea are the development of an advanced banking system card and security solutions for managing people and vehicles at, for example, ski resorts and large-scale events.

“Deploying our technology solutions for Korea is always good for allowing us to keep leading technology on a worldwide basis,” Jezouin said.