Kudelski SA () is a Swiss company that sells digital television access and management systems,

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

solutions, Internet of Things products, and public infrastructure. The company is headquartered in

Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne (, literally ''Cheseaux on Lausanne''; frp, Chesâls) is a municipality in the district of Lausanne in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a suburb of the city of Lausanne. History Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne is first ...

. Kudelski's first successful product was the Nagra tape recorder, developed by founder and Polish researcher

Stefan Kudelski Stefan Kudelski (27 August 1931 – 26 January 2013)
Nagra was a Polish audio engineer known for creating ...

André Kudelski André Kudelski (born 26 May 1960 in Lausanne) is a Swiss engineer of a Polish descent, who is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Kudelski Group. André Kudelski obtained a degree in physical engineering from the Écol ...

, the son of founder Stefan Kudelski, became the chief executive officer in 1991. The rest of the executive board includes chief financial officer Mauro Saladini, chief operating officer Morten Solbakken, and executive vice president Nancy Goldberg.

History

Kudelski Group was founded in 1951 by

Stefan Kudelski Stefan Kudelski (27 August 1931 – 26 January 2013)
Nagra was a Polish audio engineer known for creating ...

, while he was an engineering student at a Swiss university. The company's first product was the Nagra I, a reel-to-reel tap recorder, which weighed 11 pounds and measured 5"x7"x12" (roughly the size of a shoe box). It was succeeded by the Nagra II in 1953, which improved sound quality with additional mechanical filters. Kudelski released the Nagra III tape recorder in 1958, which could synchronize sound with the frames on a reel of film, which became popular for on-location filming. It was used by directors including

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...

, Jean-Luc Godard, and

D. A. Pennebaker Donn Alan Pennebaker (; July 15, 1925 – August 1, 2019) was an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of direct cinema. Performing arts and politics were his primary subjects. In 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci ...

. The Nagra SN, or Série Noir, was released in 1970, which was originally designed for use by the United States Secret Service. Kudelski later expanded into television services, providing its access control system for pay television to

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

in 1989.

replaced his father, Stefan Kudelski, as chief executive officer in 1991 following pressure from investors. OpenTV, an internet and digital television company was fully acquired by the Kudelski Group on March 29, 2010.

Subsidiaries

* SKIDATA, headquartered in Austria, manufactures

access control In the fields of physical security and information security, access control (AC) is the selective restriction of access to a place or other resource, while access management describes the process. The act of ''accessing'' may mean consuming ...

systems and software for their management. SKIDATA provides turnstiles, admission ticketing, electronic ticketing systems,

boom barrier A boom barrier, also known as a boom gate, is a bar, or pole pivoted to allow the boom to block vehicular or pedestrian access through a controlled point. Typically the tip of a boom gate rises in a vertical arc to a near vertical position. Boo ...

s, and other pedestrian and vehicular access control devices to ski resorts, parking lots, amusement parks, shopping malls, airports, and municipalities, among others. *

Nagravision Nagravision (or Nagra Kudelski or simply Nagra) is a company of the Kudelski Group that develops conditional access systems for digital cable and satellite television. The name is also used for their main products, the Nagravision encryption syste ...

is a developer of

conditional access Conditional access (CA) is a term commonly used in relation to software and to digital television systems. Conditional access is that ‘just-in-time’ evaluation to ensure the person who is seeking access to content is authorized to access the c ...

systems for cable and

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...

, and a number of other companies involved in the audio, Internet security, digital television, public access and smart card industries. * OpenTV is a software company for interactive and

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

television. Its primary business is the sale of set-top-box operating systems and software as well as digital advertising products. *

Kudelski Security Kudelski may refer to: * André Kudelski (born 1960), CEO of the Kudelski Group * Bob Kudelski (born 1964), American ice hockey player * Carl Matthias Kudelski (1805–1877), a German composer * Stefan Kudelski (1929–2013), Polish audio engineer ...

is an international cybersecurity company, with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. * SmarDTV is designing Set-Top boxes and CAM Modules.

References

{{Authority control Companies based in the canton of Vaud Television companies of Switzerland Technology companies established in 1991 Technology companies of Switzerland Swiss brands Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange Swiss companies established in 1991