BellSouth picks Pace for DTH boxes

BellSouth Entertainment has chosen Pace Micro Technology to provide digital set-tops for the direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service that BellSouth plans to launch next year in its nine-state, 14 million-home market. BellSouth's initial order is for 200,000 boxes over 12 months.

The DVB-compliant set-tops will include an embedded 175-mips processor, 16-bit graphics capability and a software telco modem and will be capable of offering e-mail and Internet services. The deal is not surprising since Pace was the set-top supplier for BellSouth's fledgling MMDS service, which currently has 120,000 customers.