Stuart Corner
Monday, 05 December 2005 01:27
IT Industry -
Deals
Alcatel is to acquire a 25 percent stake in 2Wire, a pioneer in broadband home gateway technology; and AT&T and Telmex have agreed to acquire minority interests in 2Wire from its existing shareholders.
According to Brian Hinman, president and CEO of 2Wire, "The combination of Alcatel's existing triple play solution and 2Wire's residential home gateway and management systems will arm operators with a fully managed, end-to-end network solution that extends into the home, providing operators and consumers with the benefits of a truly integrated triple play experience."
According to Alcatel operators will be able to "manage the interoperability of a wide range of devices, electronics and equipment that are increasingly being deployed within the consumer home.... [and] deliver compelling new services designed to reduce the complexity of today's home networks."
Alcatel claims that: "the result will be a more consistent, dependable user experience and a significant reduction in the level of complexity users will be faced with as they continue to embrace new media-rich, broadband services".
2Wire's products and services include the HomePortal residential gateways, the MediaPortal set-top box, and a component management system (CMS) for service management and provisioning. These are distributed by the major DSL service providers, including AT&T, BT, and Telmex. The company was founded in July 1998.