NEW ORLEANS – The impact, and potential, of Internet Protocol technology on the cable landscape took centre stage at the opening session of this year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans.
Under the theme of ‘keeping pace with the digital consumer’, the discussion revealed that it is digital consumers, and in turn their digital homes, that are primarily driving the shift from the broadcast TV model to a world of IP and Internet video at an unprecedented pace. And while the panelists had different thoughts on how best to keep up, they all agreed that the solution must include a simple yet high quality consumer experience.
Technology consultant Walter Ciciora kicked off the session with an overview of the myriad of connected devices and applications found in today’s ‘digital home’. He believes that the complexity of most consumer electronics applications makes cable’s role in the home that much more challenging.
“This is a tough one, but cable has to avoid being blamed for all that stuff that doesn’t work in the home, especially the stuff that requires being connected through cable”, he said. “When the WiFi doesn’t work, you know who they’re going to blame.”
Session moderator Larry Socher, from the global lead network practice, communications and high tech operating group at Accenture, said that it’s critical for cable operators to manage the digital home by “tying (the new services) together, integrating them, and providing a best-in-class user experience, and then differentiating on that experience”.
That observation had Edmond Shapiro, VP of project delivery Americas for NDS, nodding in agreement.
“IP networking is complex”, he concurred. “The interoperability issues that are going to come about cannot be taken for granted. Properly using our standards is going to be a key element of who succeeds in this Internet era. Consumers will expect that their service providers, and there could be more than one, will create a managed environment for them.”
Dr. Robert Howald from the CTO Office at Motorola said that the market for over-the-top (OTT) services is “driven a lot more by convenience, flexibility and choice”, not necessarily by lower costs. His presentation included some specific recommendations on how cable companies can become consumers’ retailer of choice for video, such as:
– Aggregate all the content that consumers want;
– Make that content available when and where they want it (for example, through a three screen experience involving television, PC, and mobile);
– Make it easy to find;
– Sell it in ways that consumers want to buy it (be that ads, subscription, a la carte, rent, or purchase); and
– Integrate blended web experiences.
“The (cable) operator has the opportunity to hit those points and to make sure that people have a quality experience”, Howald continued. “If they can do that, then the OTT threat, while it may not go away, can be dealt with.”
