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Pace to Acquire 2Wire, Consolidating STB Market
Pace, a leading global supplier of set-top boxes for satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms, agreed to acquire 2Wire for $475 million in cash. The consideration includes 2Wire's balance sheet cash at closing, expected to be approximately $55 million.
2Wire supplies residential gateways and multi-service IPTV STBs. The company's key customers include AT&T for its U-verse rollout, as well as Bell Canada, Telmex, BT, SingTel, and others. 2Wire, which is based in San Jose, California, is currently owned by a consortium of strategic and financial investors including Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Telmex, Oak Investment Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, and Technology Crossover Ventures.
Following the completion of the acquisition, Pace, already the number one global digital set-top box company, would also become the number one provider of telco residential gateway devices in the US and the number three provider globally.
"This acquisition will strengthen our Americas business, extending Pace's US market coverage with entry into the tier one telco market. We have built a strong position in the US with cable and satellite operators and 2Wire, with its expertise in the broadband residential gateway market, will enable us to address a full range of US operator requirements. 2Wire's software and gateway expertise will further drive development of our home entertainment convergence strategy. The transaction introduces deep client relationships with important customers including AT&T and further develops our platform to deliver ongoing sustainable growth," stated Neil Gaydon, Chief Executive Officer of Pace.
Pace is based in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, UK and employs over 1,000 people in locations around the world....
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Alcatel-Lucent Introduces Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV for Smaller Markets
Alcatel-Lucent introduced a turnkey, compact IPTV solution, powered by Microsoft Mediaroom, for smaller regional operators service between 1,000 and 100,000 set-top-boxes. The solution offers the same capabilities as the company's full IPTV offering can be deployed with far fewer servers.
Alcatel-Lucent said the Hyper-V technology in Windows Server 2008 enables Microsoft Mediaroom to be run from a single rack of servers. Previously, a full-scale deployment required between 80 and 120 servers to support an IPTV market rollout.
For the new Integrated Solution for Microsoft Mediaroom, Alcatel-Lucent has also partnered with HP for a smaller and more energy-efficient footprint. The HP BladeSystem with HP Virtual Connect technology significantly reduces the cabling between servers. The solution has been pre-tested in Alcatel-Lucent's end-to-end IP Transformation
Center (IPTC) laboratories, resulting in reduced technical risk and improved time to market by as much as 30%.
This new Integrated Solution is designed to meet the cost requirements of regional communication service providers (CSPs). Cinergy MetroNet is the first customer to use the solution and will begin offering Alcatel-Lucent-powered IPTV services to six cities in Indiana, reaching approximately 50,000 potential customers beginning July 26, 2010....
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Sycamore Targets Adaptive Content Optimization for the RAN
Sycamore Networks is developing mobile broadband optimization solution aimed at dramatically reducing congestion in the radio access network caused by rising demand for Internet video and other rich media applications. The goal is to reduce the traffic traveling across the RAN by looking into the user content flows and optimally delivering the content.
Sycamore said its forthcoming IQstream mobile broadband optimization solution will dynamically adapt to changing traffic patterns, including during peak usage periods and flash events, while maintaining full transparency to 3GPP radio network protocols and operations including critical core-based functions such as billing, policy control, and lawful intercept. The solution can be selectively deployed to parts of the RAN with the highest loads. The company claims its algorithms can deliver burst savings performance during peak usage periods as high as 90%. Other product specifics have not yet been disclosed.
"IQstream takes a unique approach to optimizing video and other rich media content traversing the RAN, employing sophisticated adaptive algorithms that self-tune in response to dynamic traffic behavior to ensure consistent service performance as mobile broadband usage patterns, applications, and devices evolve," said Kevin Oye, vice president of systems and technology, Sycamore Networks.
Sycamore anticipates that IQstream will be available in Q4 2010....
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Dolby Digital Plus is a versatile, scalable digital audio coding technology that extends the capabilities of Dolby Digital, delivering up to 7.1 channels of surround sound. It supports a wide range of bit rates to ensure optimized sound quality and efficiency to match available bandwidth. It also enables advanced applications such as multiple-program support and audio stream mixing.
This toolkit enables personalized content such as live weather and stock market information to be accessed via onscreen widgets. The software facilitates faster development and roll-out of interactive applications, creating new revenue streams for the operator, and delivering a more useful service to subscribers. The contract scope also includes professional services, including care services.
