Acer (News - Alert) has been signed as the sole provider of set-top box managed services by Pay TV Company Foxtel and Austar. The new contract will run for four years. For the past five years, Foxtel had been outsourcing its set-top box maintenance functions to Acer. Foxtel has recently purchased its regional competitor Austar, and under the new contract Acer will cover the set-top box maintenance functions for Austar too.

This new four year deal with Foxtel and Austar has made Acer the biggest electronics services provider in Australia according to the vendor. The vendor will be managed by Acer’s managed solutions group and will be in charge of all kinds of repairs, warehousing services, logistics support, refurbishment for Foxtel’s and Austar’s set-top boxes.

Foxtel is in the consolidation mode and is trying to consolidate its supply chain and service cost so that it is able to bring down its operational expenditure. Post-acquisition of Austar, Foxtel is also currently in the process of integrating Austar into its business.

Traditionally Acer has been in the business of repairing and servicing personal computer products, but now it has expanded and is in the process of adapting its operations to accommodate the Foxtel deal. Acer has recently made further investments in its Regents Park facility in Sydney to cater to the demands of Foxtel. Acer has restructured its facility and now has over 140 staff dedicated to servicing Foxtel.

As part of the contract with Foxtel and Austar, Acer will need to stick to strict key performance indicators. The set-top boxes will go through several quality assurance tests, procedures and processes before being shipped to customers. It will be challenging and it has the potential of opening a few more doors for Acer. The vendor succinctly puts it all into perspective by hoping that the experience it gains by servicing Foxtel will help it expand its managed service business further.

Acer operations director, Andrew Bosch feels that Acer is in a unique position in the managed services marketplace. He added that they have extensive in-house and in-field capabilities and can tailor these to a customer's needs, and deliver a broad range of flexible, reliable, efficient, and effective solutions for customers.