NDS appoints Anoop Varma as Director of Sales in India

Varma to lead NDS’ strategy for growth in the Indian pay-TV market

• NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced the appointment of Anoop Varma as Director of Sales for NDS India.
• He will be based in Gurgaon and will report to Alan Dishington, General Manager India, NDS.
• Anoop Varma will oversee all business development, sales and pre-sales activities in India that will include identifying and developing new business opportunities for NDS’ end-to-end pay-TV solutions in cable, satellite (DTH), IPTV and mobile TV markets.

NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced the appointment of Anoop Varma as Director of Sales for NDS India. Based in Gurgaon, Anoop will report to Alan Dishington, General Manager India, NDS.

In his new position, Anoop will oversee all business development, sales and pre-sales activities in India. He will be responsible for identifying and developing new business opportunities for NDS’ end-to-end pay-TV solutions in cable, satellite (DTH), IPTV and mobile TV markets.

Prior to joining NDS India, Anoop spent two years working for Viaccess where he successfully spearheaded their business development activities and marketing to pay-TV operators in South East Asia and the Middle East. Prior to joining Viacess, Anoop worked in the broadcast media industry in various roles across the APAC region. He worked for Star News as Vice President, Content Distribution & Corporate Affairs; Aaj Tak News as Senior Manager for five years; and four years as Sales Manager with STAR TV Distribution & Marketing.

With more than 1,400 employees in India, NDS is committed to supporting the local market and investing in the expansion of both the NDS presence and that of their customers. The NDS R&D facility in Bangalore has been operational for almost a decade and has played a key role in the development of innovative solutions for Indian pay-TV operators.

India’s established DTH and cable pay-TV market leaders, Bharti Airtel, Tata Sky, DEN (Digital Entertainment Network), Hathway Cable & Datacom, and GTPL, all rely on NDS systems to protect and enable their pay-TV services. From a base of over 21 million digital TV homes at the end of 2009, MPA forecast over 62 million digital TV homes by 2015.

Sue Taylor, Senior Vice President and General Manager of NDS Asia Pacific said: “NDS recognises the potential for the rapid growth of digital pay-TV technology in India. With his many years of experience in the industry, Anoop is ideally suited to develop new business opportunities and contribute to the growth of the Indian pay-TV market. This appointment reaffirms our commitment to India, as we continue our expansion in this high-growth market by tapping into local expertise.”

Anoop Varma commented: “This is a great opportunity to work with NDS, the market leader in cost effective and high-end digital pay-TV technology solutions, in one of the world’s most dynamic pay-TV markets. I am looking forward to leading the NDS team that will help pay-TV operators offer new digital and interactive services to audiences in India.”

About NDS
NDS Group Ltd. creates the technologies and applications that enable pay-TV operators to securely deliver digital content to TV STBs (set-top boxes), DVRs (digital video recorders), PCs, mobiles and other multimedia devices. Over 70 of the world’s leading pay-TV platforms rely on NDS solutions to protect and enhance their businesses. VideoGuard® is the world’s market-leading conditional access (CA) and digital rights management (DRM) technology, currently deployed on 119 million active devices, and safeguarding pay-TV service revenues exceeding $40 billion. NDS middleware, including MediaHighway® which enables a host of advanced services for subscribers, has been deployed on 143 million devices. NDS DVR technology, centred around XTV™, leads the global industry with 28 million units deployed. (Deployment figures as of 31st March 2010).

Headquartered in the UK, NDS remains committed to investing in R&D with over 75% of its employees dedicated to pioneering work at development centres in China, Denmark, France, India, Israel, Korea, UK and US. NDS has also implemented a host of initiatives aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and helping digital TV subscribers reduce energy consumption.

NDS Group Ltd. is a private company owned by the Permira Funds and News Corporation. See www.nds.com for more information.

Read about the latest developments at NDS and in the pay-TV industry in World Vision.