Pace looks for U.S. hookup with 2Wire acquisition

Pace plc, a pay TV set-top box maker based in West Yorkshire, UK, is making a move into the U.S. market by acquiring 2Wire, a telecom and media content delivery company.

Recently tagged by IMS Research as the world's largest supplier of set top boxes (STBs)--Pace equips the UK's BSkyB and sells STBs to Time Warner Cable, and another 100-plus pay TV operators globally--the 2Wire purchase will add IP-based gateways to Pace's inventory and likely provide the toehold that Pace is looking for as it tries to get further in to the U.S. market.

2Wire boasts a few heavyweights on its customer roster, particularly AT&T, which has deployed MediaPortal platforms since 2006, and Blockbuster, whose on-demand video solution hinges on the MediaPoint digital media player.  

In an interview with FierceIPTV, 2Wire CTO Jaime Fink calls the potential acquisition a huge opportunity for Pace. "Obviously we have the relationships, especially in the IPTV environment, that are typically using Microsoft Mediaroom, those are areas that are new for Pace and are stuff that they have not been able to spread their wings on yet..." he says.

And the benefits for 2Wire are also great. "To a large extent being able to work with middleware providers and the service providers on an end-to-end solution inclusive of the set-top box, that's something that's been harder for 2Wire to do on our own."

For more:
- see this story
- this news release
- and this related news release

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