Set-top box manufacturer Pace Microtechnology has been dealt another blow, after its biggest customer BSkyB ended the exclusivity of its contract to supply Sky Plus PVR boxes in favour of a co-supplier deal with Amstrad, writes Luke Satchell

Set-top box manufacturer Pace Microtechnology has been dealt another blow, after its biggest customer BSkyB ended the exclusivity of its contract to supply Sky Plus PVR boxes in favour of a co-supplier deal with Amstrad, writes Luke Satchell

The deal will also see Amstrad exclusively supply a new handset, to be known as the Sky Navigator, with a QWERTY keypad for easier email use which will be sold as an upgrade accessory. Amstrad already supplies standard digiboxes to BSkyB.

Pace, which has issued five profit warnings over the past two years and has been looking for a chief executive since former head Malcolm Miller quit in October, remained upbeat at the news.

A spokesperson for the company said the deal was "good news", as it proved there was "real belief in the future of PVR."

"It has taken some time to catch hold, but this deal is a positive sign for the technology", she added.

Amstrad will start shipping the new Sky Plus boxes towards the end of the year. BSkyB is understood to have sold more than 65,000 Sky Plus boxes since the product launched in September 2001.

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