Sky and Cisco maintain alliances in clients and cloud

It is a no-brainer for Sky and Cisco to maintain the relationship between the two companies. But the technology company no longer had the advantage of being a part of the News family now that NDS is just a memory, and the decisions are absolutely taken on technology. Not that we ever had a doubt.

But the decision to renew agreements on set-top box middleware solutions take on a greater significance now that Sky is buying not just for the UK market, but also businesses in Germany and Italy.

Also included is an extension to the agreements for VideoGuard conditional access and digital rights management.

Alun Webber, Managing Director, Product Design & Development, Sky said: “Our relationship with Cisco is critical to helping us realize our vision to accelerate time to market for the delivery of advanced entertainment services for our DTH subscribers that offer greater choice, convenience and control.”

Cisco cloud technology also plays a key part in the AdSmart targeted advertising platform.

Cisco and Vector with joint offer

Cisco and Vector have announced their collaborative efforts to bring cable operators future proof answers to current challenges of network evolution.

Working together, the two companies will be able to offer operators a synergy of cable access technology from both companies including nodes, RF amplifiers and DOCSIS 3.1 Remote PHY (R-PHY) equipment. This is a direct response to the industry need for European-style products for optimized size and power consumption on the so-called compact form factor.

The companies have agreed to bring fast innovation to the cable access market by bringing Vector’s core cable equipment competencies together with Cisco’s cable transmission products. In the future, Vector and Cisco plan to work together to bring leading-edge joint solutions to meet their cable operator customers’ needs, including HFC DOCSIS 3.1 Remote-PHY equipment, among others solutions.

“We decided to go with Cisco because of two things: We strongly believe cable technology needs to evolve towards IP infrastructure in which Cisco is the leader,” said Jacek Kajut, president, Vector.

“Secondly, we have full confidence saying this is a moment in time when our customers in Europe need real future-proof products, supporting a new world of converged Gigabit networks. Our relationship with Cisco simply makes it happen.”

“Working with Vector will enable our customers who are transforming their HFC plant today for Gigabit services, to fully support DOCSIS 3.1 capabilities when activated in the near future,” added Brett Wingo, VP and general manager, SP Infrastructure Group, Cisco.

“We are excited to work together to address the space and power consumption needs of our European customers.”

Kudelski and Cisco ink patent deal

Kudelski Group has signed a multi-year patent cross-license agreement with Cisco Systems, Inc. under which the companies will license their respective patent portfolios to each other with certain restrictions.

Furthermore, the parties have resolved all pending litigation between the companies and Cisco will pay Kudelski Group an up front, lump sum payment.

Joe Chernesky, senior VP of Intellectual Property and Innovation at The Kudelski Group, said: “As it has done throughout its 60+ year history, the Kudelski Group continues to invest heavily in innovation and the development of intellectual property.

“This agreement with Cisco represents further validation of our intellectual property portfolio while enabling a new area of collaboration between the two companies.”

Cisco commits to set-top business

Technology giant Cisco has outlined its commitment to its set-top box business, though said it would separate it out from its service provider operations to give a clearer indication of its performance.

In a conference with investors and financial analysts yesterday, Cisco president of development and sales, Robert Lloyd, said “we’re not getting out of set-top boxes,” claiming that customers moving from set-top to cloud-based delivery models are reliant on Cisco.

“We’re doubling down on the transition from a CPE [consumer premises equipment] to a cloud based delivery model,” he said.

However, Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers said that the company did plan to separate out its set-top and video business from its “regular service provider business” so that “when you compare [us] to our peers, you’re able to see what is our [comparative] growth.”

This came as Cisco admitted that its service provider division, which accounts for 31% of Cisco’s business had gone from positive growth of 7% to minus 13% growth – half of which was attributable to declines in set-tops.

Earlier this week Reuters reported that Chambers was facing growing pressure from investors ahead of its financial analysts conference to exit its set-top business due to declining revenue and poor profit margins.

In the meeting yesterday, Cisco cut its three-to five-year targets, with revenue growth now expected to be 3% to 6%, down from a previous 5% to 7%. Earnings growth was also adjusted down to 5% to 7% from 7% to 9%.