Verizon Communications has completed a long-awaited deal to acquire Intel’s cloud-based TV platform. Terms have yet to be released, but people familiar with the matter put the price around $200 million. The acquisition is expected to help Verizon FiOS customers search for content on TVs and Verizon smartphones and tablets. It could also help Verizon establish a foundation for offering an Internet-based version of pay TV, which several companies such as Amazon, Apple and Sony are also said to be pursuing.

“The OnCue platform and team will help Verizon bring next-generation video services to audiences who increasingly expect to view content when, where and how they want it,” said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. “Verizon already has extensive video content relationships, fixed and wireless delivery networks, and customer relationships in both the home and on mobile. This transaction provides us with the capabilities to build a powerful, capitally efficient engine for future growth and innovation.”

“We will have the opportunity to enhance, expand, accelerate and integrate our delivery of video products and services to better serve audiences on a wide array of devices,” he added.

The company said it plans to purchase rights to Intel Media’s intellectual property and seek to retain about 350 of its employees.

“The Intel Media unit has been developing a service called OnCue, which lets users watch live and on-demand programming over the Internet,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “The service relies on a set-top box and software that Intel developed and was designed to record live programming on Intel’s servers so viewers could catch up on shows without DVRs.”

Intel began the effort under former CEO Paul Otellini and tested the initiative with Intel employees in several cities.

“The project involved complex negotiations with content providers, in part because Intel hoped to record local programming as well as shows developed for a nationwide audience. Intel had most of the necessary content providers lined up for a rollout of the service in early December,” notes the article.

“But that plan was scrapped by Brian Krzanich, who became Intel’s CEO last May and signaled that he was uncomfortable with a project that relied so heavily on content relationships. He has put a greater priority on getting Intel chips into smartphones, tablets and wearable devices, and boosting Intel’s profit.”

Last month Verizon announced it would acquire content delivery startup EdgeCast Networks, which TechCrunch describes as “one of the fastest-growing Internet companies in the world.” The purchase marked another in a series of deals intended to expand Verizon’s customer base and foothold in Internet technologies.

Related Stories:
Verizon to Buy Intel’s Online TV Unit for About $200 Million, Los Angeles Times, 1/22/14
How Intel’s Brave TV Gambit Went Wrong, Businessweek, 1/22/14
Verizon to Purchase Intel Media Assets, Press Release, 1/21/14
Intel to Reduce Global Workforce by Five Percent in 2014, Reuters, 1/17/14