Pace Micro Technology has cemented its relationship with News Corporation by concluding a deal to supply Sky Italia customers with set-top boxes.
Sky Italia was created on the back of News Corp’s acquisition of of pay-TV network Telepiù (see
News Corp Completes Telepiu Transaction), completed last month. The new network represents Rupert Murdoch’s latest foray into the European satellite market and is an aggregation of Telepiù and its main competitor Stream. News Corp has an 80.1% stake with Telecom Italia holding the remainder.
The value of the contract with Pace is unknown but it is still a much-needed filip for the set-top box manufacturer, which endured a difficult 2002, interspersed with profit warnings and layoffs (see Pace Falls Into The Red As Digital Box Sales Decline).
Pace already has close links with News Corp as a result of its supply arrangement with BSkyB and recently agreed to provide STBs to Foxtel in Australia. The company will start shipping boxes to Italy this summer ahead of the full launch of Sky Italia in September.
