IBC 2011 – AMSTERDAM. Its IBC stand is no longer devoted to set-top boxes alone as Pace completes the repositioning of its product portfolio, following acquisitions of 2Wire, Bewan and Latens, and the company’s CEO Neil Gaydon has told Broadband TV News he sees a return to vertical integration.
His comments are not surprising, at the centre of the stand is the Home Gateway, a version of which has been sold to the Norwegian operator Get. Initially the cablenet will receive supplies of a client device that can also act as a basic standalone unit.
“Pace Is now an end to end provider and for smaller operators vertical integration is coming back,” said Gaydon. His argument is that the smaller operator cannot afford to have the bespoke systems being deployed on the major networks. Instead Pace puts forward product like its EPG middleware – developed independently – and providing them with a new flexibility. “in the past they have waited for suppliers to give them the next piece of the puzzle, but it’s not always what they need,” said Gaydon. “What we’ve built is a framework for operators that allows people to be more flexible.
Pace is continuing to supply some of the world’s major operators including Canal+, DirecTV, Comcast and AT&T.