Cisco is to acquire
Pure Networks for £60m.
This will allow its consumers to easily manage
their digital home networks.
Cisco believes the industry is undergoing a transition from
"Home Networking 1.0", in which home networks are largely designed
to share a broadband connection that links PCs and peripherals, to
"Home Networking 2.0", in which the multimedia-enabled home will be
made up of a number of different network devices, applications and
services that are connected to one another.
The acquisition of Pure Networks, says Cisco, will provide it
with a fully integrated home networking-management solution, that
will also serve as the foundation for the development of new
applications, tools and capabilities for consumers to use in
an increasingly connected life at home, work and on the go.
Pure Networks currently partners with Cisco to provide the
software infrastructure and tools used to create the
Linksys Easy Link Advisor (LELA), which allows a consumer to
more easily set up, organise, manage, secure and use a home
network.
The acquisition will enable further development of the existing
LELA platform, which will serve as the base for new
multimedia-enabled applications, tools and capabilities.
Pure Networks' products and systems can also provide the
foundation for service providers to manage home networks on behalf
of consumers, says Cisco.
After completion of the acquisition, Pure Networks' employees
will remain in Seattle and be integrated into Cisco firm
Linksys.