Austrian public broadcaster ORF has formalised its decision to use Kirch Group’s d-box encryption system Betacrypt for the satellite transmission of its domestic television channels on Astra (19.2 degrees East). The contract was signed last week.

ORF has to encrypt the satellite feeds of ORF1 and ORF2 for copyright reasons. All radio and television licence fee payers will get the necessary smart card for free. To avoid allegations of discrimination, ORF has also obtained a Simulcrypt licence from Kirch Group which means that the signals can be scrambled in other systems as well, for example in Viaccess. Therefore, DTH viewers will not be forced to buy or rent a d-box. This is the first time has allowed the simulcrypting of Betacrypt with other systems and could offer a solution for neighbouring Switzerland whose government blocked the use of the d-box.