There’s a good primer in the Chicago Tribune on Motorola’s Broadband Business which includes set-top boxes, cable modems, and DVR technologies. Motorola and Scientific Atlanta are the two behemoths in the set-top box industry.

One interesting tidbit was phone giant Verizon’s investment in this market:

On the other hand, set-top box makers can see opportunity in another market shift–the arrival of phone companies in the TV business.

Phone giant Verizon recently chose Motorola to help build its TV system and supply set-top boxes to its customers.

Verizon plans to spend $2.5 billion by 2006 to run fiber-optic lines directly to customers homes, allowing for television service.

The whole article is a good read.