Interactive Enterprise, a Dublin-based company which provides software to broadband operators, is to invest £20 million (€25 million) over three years in its existing Broadband Technology Centre at Citywest.
The investment will create about 220 jobs in the Republic and a further 80 jobs overseas. These will be in high technology areas such as research and development, software product development, testing and support.
The Broadband Technology Centre will increase capacity from 11,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet by February next year, enabling the company to speed up development of its broadband software solutions.
Interactive Enterprise develops products which enable mass deployment of interactive television products to residential and business customers across cable, DSL and wireless networks.
Its core product CONEXON is currently being used by broadband providers to supply high speed data services to more than 2.5 million homes worldwide.
Mr Tom Higgins, chief executive of Interactive Enterprise, said the centre would enable the company to enhance its current line of products and quickly develop new broadband enabling products for the telecoms and wireless industries.
He said Interactive Enterprise already had achieved multi-million dollar sales of its solutions to clients such as Time Warner in Florida, C-Cor.net in Atlanta, Rogers Cable in Canada and Telint Global in Germany.
Mr Higgins revealed the company was currently in talks with all the major Irish cable providers including NTL and Irish Multichannel. But he said there was greater potential for expansion abroad.
Interactive Enterprise secured $10 million (€11 million) in a round of funding in August, which included a $6 million equity investment by Motorola. Motorola now holds 10 per cent in the company and will market the company's broadband integration products as part of its own end-to-end broadband solutions offering.
This agreement will enable Interactive Enterprise's Broadband Technology Centre to integrate its interactive broadband access solutions with Motorola's portfolio of products.
Mr Richard C. Smith, corporate vice-president and director of Motorola's broadband communications sector, said this was a product of a two-year relationship with Interactive Enterprises and would lead to joint development work and the sharing of resources.
