Lithuania's Alpha komunikacijos selects Widevine Cypher to secure IPTV service

September 8, 2008 - Lithuanian ISP Alpha komunikacijos has selected US firm Widevine's Cypher content protection to secure delivery of premium broadcast and video on demand content for its 'KAVA' IPTV service.

KAVA was launched last June and delivers IP-based content, including broadcast, on-demand and interactive programming, to over 10,000 subscribers via Alpha's Fibre to the Building (FTTB) network. Its FTTB network covers the four largest cities in Lithuania, and Alpha aims to grow the service to more than 80,000 households in Lithuania.

"Alpha komunikacijos chose Widevine for its unified content protection capabilities, which not only enables access to premium European and Hollywood content delivery, but also provides the freedom to expand content delivery to the myriad of retail Internet connected devices coming onto the market," said Marius Dabrisius, CEO of Alpha komunikacijos. "Securing our IPTV service is only half the challenge. Our long term goal is to introduce a set of Internet TV services which offer customers the option to purchase a retail entertainment device, bring it home and plug it into our services. Widevine is a key enabler of that plan."

Alpha komunikacijos has selected middleware from Danish firm Nordija and set-top boxes from Motorola to deliver the service, and through selecting Widevine Cypher can also expand the service to retail consumer devices from manufacturers working with Widevine, including Internet-connected televisions, hard-drive enabled Blu-ray players, Apple iPhones and iPod Touch devices.