Cisco, Motorola Vetting VOD

Cisco Systems and Motorola are looking to move deeper into the cable and digital video market through acquisitions in the video-on-demand (VOD) space, analysts and other sources say.

On the heels of last month's Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, where rumors flew wildly on the tradeshow floor about numerous possible deals, three potential hookups have emerged as the most likely to happen, sources believe. The consensus view is that Motorola is sniffing out Broadbus Technologies, and Cisco is seeking to scoop up Arroyo Video Solutions, while a smaller player, Arris, is considering a buyout of Concurrent Computer.

As might be expected, representatives of Motorola, Cisco, and Arris all declined comment on their companies' purported purchase plans. Broadbus, Arroyo, and Concurrent all declined comment as well.

Several industry experts see a Motorola/Broadbus marriage happening because Motorola, like Cisco, could use a VOD server vendor to round out its video offerings. It's also thought that Motorola, which has been rumored to be eyeing BigBand Networks as well, would be more comfortable buying another hardware-centric firm.

Some market analysts view a Cisco alliance with Arroyo as logical because Arroyo is much more of a software play. It's believed that Cisco, fresh from its $7 billion acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta, is looking to add software capabilities to its roster instead of more gear.

Cable tech analysts and VOD market watchers believe that all these possible deals and more may well be in the works this summer as the big cable and telecom equipment suppliers seek to fill the remaining gaps in their portfolios. While the cable industry's two largest equipment suppliers, Cisco and Motorola, have most of the puzzle pieces in place, neither has a VOD server in its product line.

Read the complete story at Cable Digital News.

— Alan Breznick, Site Editor, Cable Digital News