MUMBAI: News Corporation company NDS has formed an alliance with Korean companies for the development and certification of an OpenCable compliant CableCARD (formerly known as Point of Deployment) for supply to cable TV markets in Korea and the USA.

Korea has officially adopted the OpenCable OCAP standard for the roll out of digital cable TV and the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication is preparing to deploy digital cable television to between five and eight million households in Korea over the next five years.

"This year Korean cable TV operators will start commercial deployment of OpenCable systems," said NDS Asia Pacific V-P and general manager Sue Taylor in an official statement.

The alliance comprises NDS that will contribute its 'VideoGuard' conditional access technology embedded within the CableCARD removable security module, InteracTek that will contribute software engineering and design expertise, and Nasco that will manufacture the device in Korea and also contribute sales and marketing expertise in Korea and the USA.

The alliance has already commenced development of the CableCARD module and targets delivery within twelve months.

The NDS Korea integration and testing lab will utilise their expertise to work closely with the Korean partners for the integration of NDS conditional access, interoperability testing and certification of the CableCARD module by the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) of Korea.