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| New consortium formed under IE Singapore's iPartners Programme clinch projects in China worth USD12 million |
New consortium formed under IE Singapore's iPartners Programme clinch projects in China worth USD12 million
Consortium also showcased Asia's first successful trial of mobile wireless digital broadcast with Return Channel Terrestrial (RCT) capability at the on-going Broadcast Asia 2005 in Singapore
1. A new consortium of four Singapore-based digital television players has successfully secured deals to provide a suite of Digital Television (DTV) related services for broadcasters in China. The four projects clinched will be worth an estimated USD12 million when realised over the next two years. These projects are also expected to spin off contracts in the provision of supporting services and applications for the consortium.
2. Known as the DigiStream Alliance, the consortium was officially formed on 1 April 2005 under the International Partners (iPartners) Programme by International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore). Led by Unify Engineering Pte Ltd, the consortium comprises SCM Microsystems Pte Ltd, ComSOC Technology Pte Ltd, and NOW Media Pte Ltd as alliance partners. DigiStream's services cover a comprehensive suite of products and services required for the various phases of DTV implementation, including broadcast equipment, network implementation, digital set-top boxes, mobile TV devices, interactive TV content and value-added services delivered through a digital broadcasting network.
3. Said Mr Thomas Chong, Director of Unify Engineering: "By grouping together, we have an enhanced marketing and competitive edge. Being able to offer broadcasters in China a one-stop solution for their analogue-to-digital transmission change was a winning factor for us in clinching the projects. The consortium also allows us to present a collective Singapore branding and achieve greater synergy in market development and technology collaboration."
Details of projects secured
4. The four turnkey projects secured would tap the expertise of each consortium member. Each project would include the initial phase of the broadcast system integration, network implementation and set-top boxes which would be provided by Unify Engineering. Following that, SCM Microsystems would install the security access technology; ComSOC Technology would customise its image board for portable DTV market; NOW Media would complete the project be providing interactive content and middleware application for the DTV sets.
5. These four projects are being implemented in the Chinese cities of Changsa, Taiyuan and Guiyang. They involve:
a). assisting a broadcaster in Changsa to establish itself as the first commercial digital broadcast station in China that is based on a complex Single Frequency Network with three transmitters;
b). the installation of 1000 sets of mobile digital TV sets in the taxis of Changsa by December 2005;
c). the design and implementation of Taiyuan's digital broadcast network (DVB-T network) by the second quarter of 2006; and
d). the design and implementation of Guiyang's digital broadcast network (DMB-T network) by the second quarter of 2006.
Asia's first successful trial of mobile wireless digital broadcast with Return Channel Terrestrial (RCT) capability showcased at the on-going Broadcast Asia 2005
6. At the Broadcast Asia 2005 which is currently on-going in Singapore, the consortium unveiled the Return Channel Terrestrial or RCT technology. This wireless technology will enable a one-way broadcast system to become a two-way full communication system. This will enhance the utility of DVB-T platform with a spectrum of interactive applications such as internet browsing and video on demand. The RCT technology will provide broadcasters with a platform to implement many categories of interactive new services using the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) standard.
Singapore companies well-positioned to tap potential of China's DTV market
7. As China prepares for the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese government has mandated a full scale roll-out of digital broadcasting for its broadcasters, creating a vast market for DTV-related services. This market is projected to be worth S$5 billion over the next three to five years.
8. Said Mr Andrew Khaw, Acting Director of Electronics and Precision Engineering Group at IE Singapore: "Singapore players in the DTV space are well-positioned to capture a slice of the DTV market in China. Our companies possess strong technical capabilities, enjoy a good track record in the deployment of DTV solutions and collectively are able to offer comprehensive solutions that address the needs of the Chinese market."
9. "Our companies have also been instrumental in augmenting Singapore's standing in the global DTV industry by being one of the pioneers in the world to have successfully implemented a nation-wide digital broadcast network to enable mobile TV programme viewing on buses and taxis nation-wide," added Mr Khaw.
Update on iPartners Programme
10. The formation of the DigiStream Alliance brings the number of iPartners alliances supported by IE Singapore to ten. These ten alliances will benefit 63 Singapore-based companies and are projected to achieve over SGD530 million in overseas sales. The supported projects are from diverse industries, including the info-comms technology, food services, airport services, exhibition and conference, logistics, as well as building and infrastructure sectors. Their key target markets are the Asia Pacific region, greater China, and the Middle East.
11. To encourage Singapore-based companies to band together when venturing abroad, IE Singapore launched the International Partners Programme, or iPartners Programme, in end 2003. The iPartners Programme is an initiative that catalyses the formation of international alliances between Singapore-based companies. By banding together while abroad, our companies can combine their resources, complement each other's product offerings and pursue bigger projects. These will sharpen companies' competitiveness and maximise their chances of overseas success.
12. Annex 1: Corporate profiles of consortium members
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ANNEX 1
Unify Engineering Pte Ltd
Unify is a digital broadcasting and electronics manufacturing company incorporated as a private limited company in Singapore since 1984. It has manufacturing facilities in Singapore. The company has good track record in television broadcasting and is one of the pioneers in ASEAN to successfully launch the RF Digital Broadcast Equipment.
The company is experienced in the designing, commissioning and manufacturing of digital video broadcast receivers and have been instrumental in implementing nation-wide digital cable TV and digital mobile TV on buses and taxis. Some of Unify's customers include Smart Taxi, Starhub, JVC, Toshiba and Panasonic.
The company aims to be in the South East Asia's home DTV market by end '05 and is already in the process of tendering for the Malaysian RTV conditional access setup box project and a DTV project in Thailand.
It has already secured and completed several DTV projects in China and is in advanced discussions with five broadcasters for new implementations. In addition, its recent strategic alliance with Tsinghua Leaguer (whose proprietary DMB-T standard is a leading candidate for national adoption) will open up new project and collaboration opportunities in China, which exposes potential deals for its alliance partners in the consortium during the implementation and post-implementation phases of these projects.
SCM Microsystems Pte Ltd
SCM is the leading supplier of hardware technology known as a Conditional Access Module (CAM) that plugs into an open standards-based set-top box or integrated digital TV set to decrypt television broadcast signals. CAMs offer a high degree of protection against hacking and piracy for broadcasters, and are in many cases more affordable to deploy than set-top boxes with embedded decryption technology, which broadcasters have traditionally provided to their subscribers. For many years, SCM's CAMs have been deployed by smaller pay-TV broadcasters throughout Europe who could not afford to provide set-tops to their subscribers. Now, CAMs are also being adopted or evaluated by large broadcast operators in Europe and Korea as a cost-effective way to deliver new digital pay-TV content and services.
SCM pioneered CAM technology and remains closely involved in the development of standards for digital TV broadcast security. We were a key architect in the development of the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standard used in Europe and in the OpenCable standard, developed for the U.S. and now adopted for use in Korea. We have partnerships with many of the world's largest conditional access (CA) providers and have many years' experience in implementing CA software securely.
ComSOC Technology Pte Ltd
ComSOC started off as an exclusive IC design house for Samsung Semiconductor in 1999. We work closely with our customers by providing value-added design service such as HDL design, verification and design for test. With the slowdown in the semiconductor business in 2002 and sensing a potential boom in flat panel display products, we began developing PDP-TV and LCD-TV solutions. Our solutions are feature-rich with dual tuner, PIP, POP and also support different video interface formats. Our image board solution is HDTV-ready to support high quality video and audio effect.
ComSOC's headquarters is located in Singapore and we have offices in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
NOW Media Pte Ltd
Now Media is the leading solution provider in the Interactive Digital Television (DTV) and Commerce industry. The company creates revenue-generating Applications and Services, focusing on advertising and commerce products that help Broadcasters, Network Operators, Banks and Merchants.
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Source:International Enterprise Singapore |
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