In the latest step to help network operators offer internet-based television (IPTV) services, mPhase Technologies announced jointly with Latens Systems a cooperative development and marketing agreement to integrate Latens' conditional access solutions with the mPhase TV+ System.

As a Latens Business Partner, mPhase will incorporate Latens' latest generation dynamic Conditional Access System (CAS) as a part of its mPhase TV+ System IPTV offering. Latens CAS is a pure software security solution which protects operators content and revenues.

"Our open systems platform allows us to offer an end-to-end pre-engineered IPTV system to alleviate trial and error by the operator," said Phil Thompson, mPhase Technologies executive vice president- Product Management. "Latens adds content and revenue protection as part of the total value proposition we bring to market, and this collaboration illustrates how we and our customers can easily take advantage of such an innovation thanks to industry-standards like SOAP interfaces.

"mPhase has been refining telco TV for nearly a decade, and we are applying all the lessons learned into a carrier-grade IPTV solution that incorporates best-of-breed features in a seamless offer that's as close to 'plug and play' as possible," said Thomson.

The Latens CAS provides a more dynamic, secure anti-piracy strategy than what is available with proprietary smart cards or embedded set top box solutions. Periodic downloads can keep the conditional access policies current with infrastructure upgrades, and, because it is standards-compliant, the software does not lock the operator to a single hardware supplier.

"mPhase shares our open systems philosophy and we are pleased to be part of their progressive, carrier-grade IPTV ecosystem," said Andy Mathieson, Director, Latens. "With Latens CAS pre-integrated and tested with the mPhase TV+ System , operators will have the peace of mind that they are deploying conditional access which has industry leading security, flexibility and scalability as part of the open architecture offered by the mPhase TV+ System."