Boston, MA 07/15/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) acquired the company behind a Wi-Fi router technology that helps small businesses and home Internet users to monitor their broadband usage. The company is PowerCloud System, which develops hardware and software suitable for Wi-Fi monitoring. PowerCloud is a spinoff from PARC.
Although no details were provided about the value of the acquisition, it is believed that Comcast paid about $50 million to purchase the business.
Internet of Things
According to experts, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) will likely use PowerCloud’s technology to deal with the increasing demand for smooth Wi-Fi connectively and the need for Wi-Fi tracking especially among home consumers.
The acquisition is also expected to help the company improve protection of connected devices. As such, the acquisition of PowerCloud seems to be weaved in Internet of Things as Comcast and other Internet providers seek to boost their systems especially in terms of performance and protection as more devices get connected to the Internet.
It is anticipated that at least 50 billion devices that include smartphone, tablets, healthcare devices and cars will be connected by 2020. Although greater connectivity means bigger business opportunity for broadband providers the same also comes with efficiency and security challenges. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) seems to be trying to address ahead of time with its latest acquisition and the pending deal with Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC).
Comcast offered $45 billion to purchase the cable television operator, and the matter is currently before the regulators.
Combating competition
Besides readying its system for the robust growth in Internet connectively under the Internet of Things, Comcast is also making strategic acquisitions to increase its competitive edge. The company is sharpening its edge against rivals Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), which have recently shown great interest owning world Internet networks.
As the biggest broadband provider in the U.S., Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) also faces competition from AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which are also aggressively pushing into mobile Internet.
