Cabot adds DVB-C capability to Aurora Pan-European DVB middleware stack

May 31, 2006

Cabot Communications, the specialist digital TV software supplier, today announces it has added Digital Video Broadcasting-Cable (DVB-C) capability to Aurora, its pan-European DVB middleware stack for free-to-air digital terrestrial and satellite receivers. As a result, manufacturers of digital TV devices can now deploy a single middleware platform to support every traditional home Digital TV medium.

Extending the Aurora middleware stack to support the broadcast of digital television over cable opens up a significant market opportunity for Cabot. Germany is the largest television market in Europe, with approximately 38.5 million TV households. The country is also the largest Cable TV market, with around 57% of German television homes receive their signal via Cable¹, compared to around 13% in the UK.²

Germany's Digital TV Market by Platform

"There are various geographical, political and cultural factors that effect the roll-out of digital TV across Europe," commented Bob Lamb, Managing Director of Cabot Communications. "For example, Cable is often deployed in areas where there are high concentrations of potential customers to justify the investment in the infrastructure. However, in countries with dispersed, sparse populations other mediums are more suitable."

"This highly heterogeneous European digital TV market makes it extremely difficult for manufacturers to build common products across Europe, resulting in increased costs and smaller economies of scale. By offering a single, modular, pan-European middleware stack that supports DVB-T, DVB-S and now DVB-C reception, we can enable manufacturers to address the complex requirements of the diverse European TV market and expand their product ranges quickly and at low cost."

Cabot is demonstrating the new DVB-C extension to Aurora at the Vestel stand, J29, at Anga Cable, Cologne from 30th May - 1st June.