Motorola buys IPTV middleman Dreampark

Motorola appears to be getting back into the game of acquiring IPTV assets, announcing this week that Motorola Mobility has definitively agreed to buy Swedish IPTV middleware vendor Dreampark. The deal comes a few years after Motorola went on a buying binge in the IPTV/video sector, a sweep of activity that included acquisitions of companies like Tut Systems and Kreatel that were involved in some aspects of the middleware market.

The Dreampark acquisition, for which financial terms were not disclosed, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011. Dreampark, which recently won carrier deals in Finland and Egypt, has a focus on supporting converged multi-screen media experiences with open standard technology.

The company’s Dreamgallery software portfolio leverages HTML and scalable vector graphics, which when combined with software development kits, can give service providers greater control over customizable TV portals. The Dreampark portfolio is expected to be integrated into the Motorola Medios service management software suite, with the company becoming part of Motorola Mobility's Converged Experiences business.

The IPTV middleware business has been through many changes in recent years, as initial start-ups were acquired by the likes of Nokia Siemens Networks, as well as Espial and Viaccess. Meanwhile, stalwart Minerva has remained independent, and Microsoft Mediaroom has continued be a dominant player, winning a place in the network of SureWest Communications in 2009