Nagravision, a Kudelski Group division/company (SIX:KUD), has announced HD PLUS GmbH, an SES ASTRA company, selected a Nagra Media turnkey end-to-end conditional access system (CAS) to support the operator's new HD offering in Germany. Named HD+, the SES ASTRA service will deliver HD programs to TV households and is scheduled to launch in late autumn. This selection expands the companies' already ongoing relationship.

The first commercial channels to be carried by the HD+ service are RTL and VOX, which will start to broadcast their HD programs in the autumn of this year. In January 2010, the channels Sat.1, ProSieben and kabel eins will follow. Presently, ten leading STB manufacturers have engaged with Nagravision to start the integration and certification processes, clearly demonstrating their support for the HD+ business model. The HD content requires signal protection and digital rights management enabled through encryption. Receiver manufacturers will offer Nagravision enabled HD+ smart cards with their set-top boxes to decrypt the HD programming for home viewers. This model has proven to work well for both consumers and operators in regions or countries such as Italy and the U.K.