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EL SEGUNDO – Communications infrastructure equipment OEMs are engaging in a spate of mergers and acquisitions to become one-stop shops that can sell everything needed for telcos to compete in IPTV, according to iSuppli Corp.

At stake is a market for IPTV equipment that is expected to grow to $22.1 billion in 2011, up from $9 billion in 2007, the company says.

Leading the OEM M&A frenzy is Ericsson – with its purchase of Marconi in 2005, Redback Networks Inc. and Entrisphere Inc. in 2006, and its current pursuit of Tandberg TV. The company is positioning itself to be a complete IPTV supplier, iSuppli says.

Also, Motorola Inc. has purchased Netopia Inc., Tut Systems Inc. and Vertasent LCC—a developer of Video-on-Demand and IPTV software—and has forged a strategic alliance with ECI Telecom Ltd. Cisco Systems Inc. has followed the same path with its purchase of Scientific- Atlanta, Linksys and Arroyo Video Solutions, a maker of video-networking software, continues the research firm.

Meanwhile, Nortel Networks Ltd. entered into an agreement to jointly develop middleware for the IPTV market with pay-TV software specialist NDS Ltd. During the same period, the merger that resulted in Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in the IPTV equipment space. Finally, Siemens and Nokia merged, creating another potentially powerful competitor, according to iSuppli.

iSuppli expects the M&A activity to sustain its fast pace in 2007. The focus of M&A activity in 2007 will be on middleware, VOD and possibly video encoding, the company predicts.