Thomson today announced it has acquired 100% of Cirpack, a softswitch company. (See http://www.thomson.net/EN/Home/Press/)

Thomson also recently acquired the Inventel who makes several VoIP products, including the Inventel DECT Cordless VoIP Gateway which has a buiilt-in ADSL2+ modem and supports multiple VoIP lines. Thomson is a multinational company offering complete solutions and services to content creators, network operators, manufacturers and retailers, under the Technicolor, Grass Valley, RCA and THOMSON brand names. In 2003, Thomson generated revenues of €8.5 billion and had 59,000 employees in more than 30 countries.

This acquisition supports Thomson’s ambition to grow its telecoms business within the framework of its 2-Year Plan. The softswitch is key to helping telecom operators prepare voice, video and data convergence in IP networks. This acquisition will reinforce Thomson’s ability to provide end-to-end solutions in VoIP and triple play.

Being part of a multinational company selling to Tier1 telecom operators around the world, Cirpack can now develop an ambitious roadmap heading towards even more complex systems for IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) deployments. This will benefit all Cirpack customers, small, medium or large operators, as Cirpack technology is renown for its modularity, flexibility and scalability.

Cirpack is now a subsidiary of the Thomson Group. The Cirpack brand and corporate identity are not changing. Cirpack’s offices are not moving. Cirpack’s existing contracts with suppliers, partners and customers are not altered in any way. Cirpack will still be managed by Jean-Pierre Dumolard, Cirpack’s current CEO and Thomson’s telecoms business management. All Cirpack employees and middle management are maintained in their current positions.