Ericsson has announced another software acquisition – the wireless equipment giant said today that it has agreed to buy San Francisco’s Envivio (ENVI) for $125 million. Envivio makes software for vide compression and encoding.
Envivio has more than 400 service provider and content provider customers, including Comcast, Cox Communications, Liberty Global, Sky, Telstra and Time Warner Cable. The company has roughly 200 employees. Once acquired, it will become part of Ericsson’s segment support solutions. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.
Most of Ericsson’s recent acquisitions have been software companies, as the equipment maker looks for ways to add value to its hardware and service offerings. Less than a year ago Ericsson acquired Fabrix Systems for cloud storage, computing and network delivery for video applications.
AT&T video contract
Ericsson wants to be ready as consumers demand video at any time on any device, and its portfolio of solutions has won AT&T’s business as the carrier integrates its DirecTV purchase into its service offerings.
“By collaborating with Ericsson, AT&T will be able to enhance its service offerings across its networks,” said Enrique Rodriguez, executive VP and CTO, for AT&T’s entertainment and Internet services division. “Combining these technologies together uniquely positions AT&T to offer consumers an unparalleled bundled video entertainment, mobile and broadband experience.”
At the outset this collaboration will be more focused on satellite and wireline services than on mobile video. AT&T said that it wants to combine technologies from its U-Verse platform and its DirecTV platform.
