Cisco Systems Inc. agreed Friday to acquire cable TV technology company Scientific-Atlanta Inc. for about $6.9 billion in a move that would create a one-stop shop in distributing television to living rooms over the Internet.
The deal, which is Cisco’s second largest ever, is an attempt to capitalize on a business that’s expected to explode as telephone companies deploy fiber-based networks capable of carrying TV signals and the broadcast industry as a whole shifts to digital transmissions.
