Cisco Buying Norway's Tandberg (Not Tandberg Television, Formerly of Norway)

Likely there were split seconds of confusion for some upon reading this headline today: “Cisco to buy video firm Tandberg for $3 billion.”

That’s Oslo-based Tandberg ASA, which sells videoconferencing gear — not Tandberg Television, the video-encoding systems vendor formerly based in Norway, which Ericsson acquired in 2007 after outbidding Arris. And there’s at least a third tech-related company with the same name: Tandberg Data, also based in Oslo, which provides data storage and backup solutions.

The three companies were formed in 1979 when the original Tandberg company (founded as Tandbergs Radiofabrikk) split into Tandberg, Tandberg Data and Tandberg Television. OK — jeg forstår det veldig godt!

Cisco’s bid for the videoconferencing Tandberg is part of the networking giant’s push into network-based collaboration. The integration of Tandberg’s video endpoints “will enable intercompany and multi-vendor interoperability and ease of use across the full product portfolio — from desktop to immersive, multi-screen TelePresence,” Cisco said in announcing the deal.