Zoom Resurrecting Moto CPE Brand

Zoom Telephonics (OTCQB:ZMTP), a Boston-based manufacturer of cable modems and other communications products, has signed an exclusive license agreement with Motorola Mobility for the Motorola brand in connection with consumer cable modem products, including cable modem bridges, cable modem/routers, and cable set-top boxes containing cable modems, for the U.S. and Canadian markets. The CPE branding agreement begins on Jan. 1, 2016, and runs through Dec. 31, 2020.

"Motorola is a leading brand of cable modems at retail, and we're honored and thrilled to be licensing this powerful brand," said Frank Manning, Zoom's President and CEO.

The Moto Mobility story is very much one of mergers and acquisitions. ARRIS (NASDAQ:ARRS) bought the Motorola Home business from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) in April 2013, topping a December 2012 bid from Pace (LSE:PIC), which today is in the process of being acquired by ARRIS. Google had bought Motorola Mobility in May 2012 and subsequently renamed it Motorola Home. Moto got into the cable business in 2000 when it bought General Instrument, parent company of Jerrold Electronics, which GI bought in 1967, though Jerrold branding continued in use into the early 1990s.