Irdeto, a provider of conditional access services to direct-to-home operators, has acquired IDWay, Irdeto announced July 6.

The companies began working together in 2006, and the acquisition of IDWay, which provides open software solutions to digital TV consumers, bolsters Irdeto’s product offerings. By combining IDWay’s middleware solutions with Irdeto’s conditional access solutions, Irdeto will be able to provide a wider range of integrated solutions to operators and set-top box manufacturers.

This follows a trend in recent years of conditional access players looking to extend into the middleware arena to offer a more comprehensive solution to pay-TV operators. Two of Irdeto’s major rivals, NDS and the Kudelski Group, are able to offer customers combined solutions.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.