Google and Rovi, a digital entertainment technology company, have signed a patent license agreement spanning several years for use in Google’s long-awaited fiber pay-TV service.
Rovi is licensing its interactive guide patent portfolio for set-top boxes and online and mobile platforms to Google.
Google announced last month it will charge $70 per month for its long-awaited, ultra-fast Internet service in Kansas City. Google is testing new ways to use the Internet there. Bypassing the local cable and phone companies, Google has spent months and an unknown amount of money pulling its own optical fiber through the Kansas City region.
The $70 monthly fee will pay for gigabit Internet service, about 100 times faster than a basic cable modem. For another $50 per month, Google will provide cable-TV-like service over the fiber, too, and a tablet computer that works as a remote.
Financial terms of the patent deal were not disclosed.
Shares of Rovi Corp., slid 3 cents to $13.38 in late morning trading. Shares of Google Inc. rose $1.49 to $634.17.