Xavier Fustagueras, SVP Sales, Americas, Nagra, is interviewed by TAVI Latam. Nagra is the digital TV division of the Kudelski Group and provides security and multiscreen user experience solutions for the monetization of digital media.
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Highlights from the interview:
-The Latin American region has always been a key focus for us.
-The last few months have been challenging, but we’re working even more closely with our customers to bring them fit-for-purpose products.
-Nagra Insight was deployed by one of the largest cable operators in Colombia.
-We were one of the very first players in Latin America market to bring in a complete end-to-end hybrid linear/OTT pre-integrated solution for operators of all sizes.
-In Argentina, Grupo Express enabled their OTT service called Now with our multi-DRM solution.
-We have a key role to play in helping our customers – wherever they are – adapt and transform to a new landscape.
-We have created a specific Insight offering to address the COVID-19 crisis, as operators react to the business challenges created by the pandemic.
-To stay ahead of the pirates, it is important to have a comprehensive anti-piracy strategy in place.
-We provide forensic watermarking to work against the piracy. This process manages to identify the sources of piracy and shut them down in near real-time.
-As pirates continue to innovate, the Pay TV industry will require deeper collaboration between all stakeholders.
-Leading client device ecosystems such as Android TV have already proven to be a go-to solution.
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Interview:
TAVI Latam:-How was Nagra’s work in the last months?
Fustagueras:-The Latin American region is extremely important to Nagra and has always been a key focus for us. We continue to expand in the region with solutions and capabilities that are essential to Pay TV service providers in delivering content to their subscriber base. Of course, the last few months have been challenging, not just for us but for our customers and also consumers, but we’re working even more closely with our customers to bring them a well-diversified product portfolio, with fit-for-purpose products and pre-integrated solutions all supported by local teams.
TAVI Latam:-What objectives have they achieved in the last time?
Fustagueras:-We have recently reached some important goals in the region including working with one of the largest cable operators in Colombia, to deploy Nagra Insight to help them drive business performance and operational excellence using data and AI – a capability that has become critical particularly in the COVID-19 era, when engaging and retaining subscribers is vital. We were also one of the very first players in Latin America market to bring in a complete end-to-end hybrid linear/OTT pre-integrated solution for operators of all sizes, and in Argentina, Grupo Express enabled their OTT service called Now with our multi-DRM solution. Those are just some of the recent highlights.
TAVI Latam:-Which Nagra product is the most used in Latin America?
Fustagueras:-In Latin America, we offer the same products and solutions than to other countries in the world, from very basic content protection to more advanced antipiracy solutions, end-to-end video and OTT, and data analytics solutions. We have a key role to play in helping our customers – wherever they are – adapt and transform to a new landscape, whether it’s deploying hybrid linear and OTT models, aggregating content, fighting piracy, or providing solutions to increase ARPU and to reduce customer churn. Nagra Insight, our advanced analytics platform for pay-TV operators and telcos, is one of product that is helping service providers take data-driven actions to reduce churn and optimize subscription upselling. We have created a specific Insight offering to address the COVID-19 crisis, as operators react to the business challenges created by the pandemic. We’re also developing a medium and long-term growth strategy for our key new market opportunities, including OTT and sports entertainment solutions and we expect to grow the overall business of the Kudelski Group’s cybersecurity business high added-value products and services.
TAVI Latam:-What risk are companies in the region aimed if they don´t invest in security products?
Fustagueras:-Protecting content value and investment is critical for Pay TV operators and content owners in the region, even more so in the context of COVID-19, as content release strategies shift to digital distribution. It is natural that there is a greater search for entertainment online and often this comes with illicit alternatives. To counter this and stay ahead of the pirates, it is important to have a comprehensive anti-piracy strategy in place. That´s why, working in concert with our security solutions and anti-piracy services, we provide forensic watermarking to protect linear TV, live streaming, and VOD content from leaks. The process is automated and can determine the source of the leak quickly and efficiently, for example for live events such as sports, by identifying the sources of piracy and shutting them down in near real-time. There is no silver bullet to fighting piracy, but one thing is for sure: as pirates continue to innovate, the Pay TV industry will require deeper collaboration between all stakeholders and a multi-pronged approach that combines monitoring, intelligence, legal and technological capabilities will be required to tackle piracy effectively. We are very active in this area and play an active role in anti-piracy organizations around the world, including the Alianza Contra La Piratería in the Latam region.
TAVI Latam:-How do you envision the future of Pay TV with the advancement of streaming platforms?
Fustagueras:-As more content owners launch their own direct-to-consumer (D2C) offerings, it’s becoming a very fragmented landscape for the user. As existing aggregators of content, service providers have an opportunity to offer more efficient and scaled services while bundling offerings to adapt to the modern consumer’s needs. As content super-aggregators, operators are able to range a variety of content services through a centralised and user-friendly umbrella using approaches such as deep-linking. And, for some, leading client device ecosystems such as Android TV have already proven to be a go-to solution, enabling them to deliver operator-tier branded UEX, Google TV services, direct carrier billing and more. Further, given the increased processing capability of smart TV’s, direct-to-TV solutions, such as TVkey Cloud from Nagra and Samsung, allow operators to make the virtualization of the set-top-box a reality and attract new subscribers through additional marketing channels to increase their service reach. At the same time, we will see the need for data-driven decisioning to enable new monetization models, a better understanding of consumer preferences to improve personalization of content, to allow new ways of optimizing operators’ bottom line and to create the successful Pay TV packages of the future. So while OTT continues to grow, there is opportunity for operators and content owners to maintain and grow their consumer reach via an entirely consumer-focused approach. And Nagra is well-equipped to help Latam Pay TV operators address these opportunities.
