Siemens Communications Inc. today announced a global agreement making Widevine Technologies Inc. a certified content protection vendor for broadband carriers delivering Internet protocol television (IPTV) services to viewers via the Siemens SURPASS Home Entertainment solution.

Widevine is the leading provider of content protection and digital forensic solutions for IP video. Widevine enables more than 90 global operators to acquire and license premium broadcast and video-on-demand (VOD) content from major broadcasters and studios.

"Providing true choice and flexibility to IPTV service providers is a hallmark of the SURPASS Home Entertainment portfolio," said Chris Coles, CEO of Siemens Home Entertainment. "Through work with companies such as Widevine, Siemens meets today's market requirements with its capability to integrate industry-leading solutions. Based on the integration and interoperability between Siemens and Widevine, we are excited to extend this solution to our global market."

The Siemens SURPASS Home Entertainment portfolio is the end-to-end IPTV deployment solution of choice for more than 80 operators worldwide. SURPASS Home Entertainment middleware and the Widevine Cypher content protection system are already part of integrated solutions for more than 25 customers in the United States. Globally, several contracts are now pending with Widevine's content protection solution integrated within the SURPASS Home Entertainment portfolio.

"The challenge is not only providing a broadband operator with a great IPTV solution, but also ensuring that a robust content protection system is tightly integrated with that solution," said Brian Baker, CEO of Widevine. "The agreement enables Widevine to continue to work with Siemens to provide a scalable and mature content protection system, critical for enabling operators to acquire premium broadcast and VOD content."

The Siemens SURPASS Home Entertainment portfolio is commercially deployed by more broadband service providers than any other IPTV software solution. The portfolio's middleware helps service providers to increase subscriber revenue with a range of IP-based video and on-demand entertainment offerings. Based on an open architecture, the solution helps ensure interoperability with all parts of the IPTV content delivery chain and helps broadband operators to quickly and cost-effectively deploy leading IPTV solutions. The portfolio provides back-office management tools as well as building blocks for the convergence of entertainment, communications and smart home solutions.

The Siemens LifeWorks Vision
The Siemens SURPASS Home Entertainment portfolio is a critical component of the Siemens LifeWorks vision to help people interact, work and be entertained - without technology boundaries - in an always-on world. The company's award-winning LifeWorks vision provides the building blocks for the ongoing development of secure, reliable and high-quality converged communication solutions that drive greater efficiencies and improve user satisfaction.