Pace Micro Technology has taken a giant leap towards domination of the world's set-top box market for digital TV.
The UK company has won an order for 750,000 set-top boxes from US group Time Warner Cable.
Pace, which already supplies set top boxes to the UK's digital TV industry, saw its shares rise almost 25% - up 95p to 490p.
Yorkshire based Pace said development of the Time Warner boxes will take place at its sites in Cambridge in the UK and Boca Raton in Florida.
Delivery of the boxes will begin at the end of 2000.
UK, US and French orders
Malcolm Miller, chief executive, described the order as taking the company "into the heartland of the US cable TV industry".
Time Warner is the largest cable operator in the US and the set-top boxes have been ordered as part of its plans to move its service onto digital broadcasting.
Pace supplies digital set-top boxes for satellite broadcaster BSkyB, terrestrial digital service Ondigital and all the UK cable companies.
It also has deals to supply French broadcaster Canal Plus and another US cable company, Bell South