Frequence, which makes automation and workflow software for ad sales, said it has added new features that make it easier for media companies to sell linear TV inventory by providing the kinds of data and analytics buyers are used to getting in digital ad buys.

“In recent years, media companies selling linear TV have increasingly found themselves adding more and more digital extensions, rather than more of their own inventory,” said Oliver Jacob, president of Frequence. “Our first-to-market suite of features for linear TV reporting enable advertisers to provide all of the scheduling and analytics that used to only be available with digital executions.”

Cable provider Midcontinent Communications has been using the new features from Frequence. 

“We’ve been looking for a solution to help us sell more of our owned and operated inventory for years, and now we finally have it,” said Shauna Wimer, director of advertising sales at Midcontinent Communications. “The new linear TV planning and reporting features from Frequence have helped us put our own inventory on the same level as the digital extensions we sell, which pleases both our advertisers and our own stakeholders.”

Frequence also works with  Spectrum Reach, MediaCom, Adams and Marketron. 

The company said the new features are compatible with SmartProposal, Frequence’s AI-powered media proposal and automation platform. ■

Midcontinent Communications’s long-time nickname is now the MSO's official name. 

The operator's rebrand as “Midco” went official on Tuesday (January 12), as the operator now aims to rev up upgrades that will soon deliver 1-Gig residential broadband service across its footprint.

Midco, which serves more than 330,000 homes and businesses in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, also introduced a new logo and is now starting to implement the new branding to marketing materials and other consumer-facing parts of its business.

“We have a lot of ground to cover. Everything from the signs on our buildings to graphics on service vehicles, letterhead, envelopes, and even the apparel our technicians wear will need to be updated,” Trish McCann, Midco’s chief marketing officer said, in a statement, noting that it will be at least a year before the MSO completes the conversion.

“Midco has a long history of blazing new trails and launching the latest technology to deliver communications and entertainment to homes and businesses across the region,” added president and CEO Pat McAdaragh. “Most of our customers already call us Midco. We believe our shortened name, logo and marketing honor our past, and more importantly, point to where we’re going in the future.”

Midco said it’s now pushing ahead on a plan to offer 1-Gig residential broadband in all service areas by the end of 2017.

Last fall, Midco announced that its Fargo-Morehead West area in North Dakota will be the first market to get 1-Gig.

Midconoted in July that it would shift to DOCSIS 3.1, an emerging multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks, using the cBR-8, a new Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) from Cisco Systems that combines the functions of the cable modem termination system and edge QAM. Products from five cable modem have already been certified for DOCSIS 3.1 by CableLabs.

Looking to replicate the success it’s had across the pond pitching smart, in-home WiFi systems to Internet service providers, AirTies has planted its flag in North America and identified its first customer in the region – Midcontinent Communications.

AirTies, a company formed in 2004, cut its teeth in the Europe, where WiFi and other wireless technologies faced challenges of breaking through the building construction that’s prevalent in the region – namely a lot of brick walls. While speedy home networking technologies such as Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) and powerline offer wired-based option, AirTies took the all-wireless route with a platform made up of a mesh of high-octane access points that are powered by an automated networking management platform that’s designed to steer signals through the best path in the home.

That approach has helped AirTies land some sizable clients, including Sky in the U.K., Germany, Austria, and Italy, Vodafone, Singtel, and Swisscom, among others, and it believes that it can duplicate that success with U.S.-based operators.

In the U.S., video streaming “has put a lot of pressure on the home network,”  Bulent Celebi, AirTies’ executive chairman and co-founder, said. He said typical in-home setups that rely on a primary access point are challenged because signals become weaker and performance is impacted as mobile devices are used in different parts of the home.

He said mobile clients tend to make “poor decisions” on where to connect and turn into “bad apples” on the home network. AirTies attempts to remedy this and boost performance through the use of multiple access points connected to an intelligent network management system that coordinates traffic and dynamically signals through the best route.

To pursue opportunities on this side of the pond, AirTies has spent the last year and a half setting up an operation in Silicon Valley, and today named company vet Oz Yildrim as EVP and GM of North  America, who will be based in Sunnyvale, Calif. Celebi said AirTies currently has about five people stationed here, and expects to hire “well over a dozen” people for North America within a year. AirTies currently has 275 employees.

As for its first U.S.-based customer, Midcontinent, the MSO will tap AirTies’s Air 4920 access points (pictured), which bake in dual-band WiFi (2x2 802.11n at 2.4 GHz, and 3x3 802.11ac at 5 GHz), two Gigabit Ethernet ports, and support for the company’s WiFi Smart Mesh and Client Steering technology. Those APs can be connected through a mix of technologies, including Ethernet, MoCA, powerline-based platforms and AirTies’ own wireless mesh systems, the company said

Midcontinent, an operator that serves more than 300,000 subs in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, is expected to launch its AirTies-powered platform later this year, but has not announced how it will be priced. Midcontinent has also hatched a plan to bring gigabit speeds to its entire footprint by the end of 2017.

“At Midcontinent, we see our customers’ bandwidth consumption doubling every 18 months – and more devices than ever are dependent on the in-home wireless network,” said Jon Pederson, CTO of Midcontinent, in a statement. “The AirTies approach will help our customers enhance their in-home wireless performance and coverage.”  

Celebi said AirTies partners have marketed its technology under a variety of models, either selling it directly, making it part of subscription-based, premium WiFi offerings, or including it with speed upgrades.

He said AirTies already has trials underway with some big, but still unnamed, U.S. operators, and noted that the company can license its technology to other modem and gateway vendors.

And AirTies does expect to compete with traditional gateway and set-top box suppliers as MSOs look to shore up their whole-home WiFi strategies, but hopes that its network intelligence system will serve as a differentiator.

Modem/gateway suppliers such as like Arris have been beefing up their gateways to pump more wireless speed in the home, and others, such as Actiontec, have been aggressively pursuing the whole-home networking opportunity with carriers. On the MSO side, Bright House Networks has shored up its whole-home capabilities with “Echo,” a program that pairs wireless gateways with access points that are installed at different cable outlets in the customer’s home.

Looking ahead to the DOCSIS 3.1 era, Midcontinent Communications said the Fargo-Morehead West area in North Dakota will be its first market to offer residential gigabit broadband services.

The announcement comes soon after Midco said it would deliver gigabit Internet speeds to its entire footprint by the end of 2017. Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Bismarck and Grand Forks have been identified as Midco markets that would be among the first to get gigabit service.

MidCo noted in July that it would shift to DOCSIS 3.1, an emerging multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks, using the cBR-8, a new Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) from Cisco Systems that combines the functions of the cable modem termination system and edge QAM. 

The MSO has not set a precise launch date for gigabit service in the Fargo metro area, noting that it must first deploy DOCSIS 3.1 modems, which will be hybrids that support both DOCSIS 3.0 and DOCSIS 3.1-based transport. As was shown at an interop at CableLabs earlier this week, CMTS, modem and chip vendors are making speedy progress with D3.1 as operators prepare to test the platform ahead of initial deployments that are expected to get underway in 2016.

In this week’s announcement, MidCo VP of technology Jon Pederson said in the release that the operator is “collaborating” with Cisco on the new modems (Cisco, by the way, is in the process of selling its CPE division, which includes set-tops and modems, to Technicolor).

Midco has been using fiber to deliver gig speeds, but said DOCSIS 3.1 will enable it to offer those speeds to a wider range of customers. The operator is going all-digital to free up spectrum for DOCSIS 3.1.

“We chose the Fargo metro area as the first area for Midco Gig because of the state-of-the-art technology we’ve been installing in the metro area during our Fargo build-out that started in 2014 and will continue through 2016,” says Pat McAdaragh, president and CEO of Midcontinent.

Midcontinent has more than 300,000 customers and serves parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Positioning itself for gigabit speeds, Midcontinent Communications is deploying the cBR-8, a new Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) from Cisco Systems that’s being made to support DOCSIS 3.1.

DOCSIS 3.1, a platform specified by CableLabs, is designed to support multi-gigabit speeds – up to 10 Gbps downstream and at least 1 Gbps in the upstream.

Cisco introduced the cBR-8 (pictured) in May at the INTX show in Chicago. As a multi-service CCAP, it will house the functions of the cable modem termination system and the edge QAM. Altice Group, which is acquiring Suddenlink Communications, has been testing the cBR-8, which had carried the “Battlestar” code-name.

Midcontinent has more than 300,000 customers and serves parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Last June, it doubled speeds for customers, and launched a new 200 Mbps (downstream) tier. The operator has set a goal to make gigabit speeds available to about 600,000 homes and 55,000 businesses by the end of 2017.

Midcontinent will use the CBR-8 for DOCSIS 3.0 initially, but is expected to use it for D3.1-based services as well. The initial wave of D3.1 modems will be hybrids that can utilize both DOCSIS  3.0 and 3.1-based spectrum.

“Cisco’s cBR-8 aligns with our strategy and vision to deliver Gigabit-speed Internet experiences that will change the quality of life and spur business innovation in the communities we serve,” Midcontinent VP of technology Jon Pederson said, in a statement. “With our customers’ bandwidth consumption doubling every 15 months, we need the right technology in place to support our network demands now and in the future. The unique DOCSIS and Remote PHY capabilities of the cBR-8 will help us meet our commitments for the Midcontinent Gigabit Initiative.”

“Advancing its cable access architecture with cBR-8’s advanced multi-Gigabit DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 technologies and converged video capabilities is a key step in their well-planned network evolution strategy,” added Brett Wingo, VP and GM of Cisco’s Service Provider Infrastructure Group. 

Jones/NCTI said it has struck a three-year deal to provide Midcontinent Communications with a suite of learning tools for the MSO’s frontline field technicians and call center teams.

The package includes Jones/NCTI's course material, mobile learning application and career path development tools, as well as LogiCALL customer service support.  Under the deal, Midcontinent’s techs and call center staff will get access to Jones/NCTI's Master Technician and Master Representative course materials, and the MSO will deploy Amp, Jones/NCTI's mobile learning application. 

Jones/NCTI will also provide opportunities for career planning and advancement with career paths created and tailored for Midcontinent.

Midcontinent will introduce the new Jones/NCTI program to employees in early 2015. 

“Our team is excited to deepen our relationship with Midcontinent by providing their frontline technicians and customer care teams with a results-driven learning program that supports a clearly defined career path,” said Stacey Slaughter, CEO of Jones/NCTI, in a statement. “ All MSOs can benefit from the way we have restructured our offerings to integrate with and supplement existing learning programs."  

"We're thrilled to provide our team with tools to expand the superior customer service they provide today through our relationship with Jones/NCTI,” added Kathy Green, director of talent development at Midcontinent.  “These solutions will deliver on-demand, next-level learning to help our employees on the job as well as throughout their careers. I expect deployment of the Jones/NCTI solutions will have a positive impact on our company, our employees and ultimately, our customers."

Midcontinent Communications is tossing its hat into the 1-Gig ring.

The MSO on Monday introduced the “Gigabit Frontier Initiative,” a plan that aims to bring gigabit speeds to about 600,000 homes and 55,000 businesses across its footprint South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota, fed by a fiber network that extends more than 7,600 miles, over the next three years. 

MidCo said communities will launch 1-Gig as they are upgraded. The MSO has set up a Web site where customers can check to view availability in their areas. With work slated to get underway in 2015, MidCo said the first areas expected to get gigabit service are Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks, N.D.; as well as Sioux Falls and Rapid City, S.D. 

MidCo’s current high-end residential broadband tier, MidcoNet Xtstream Wideband 3.0, tops out at 200 Mbps downstream by 20 Mbps upstream for about $106 per month. The operator said it will announce pricing for gigabit services when they become available.

The operator noted that bandwidth usage among its high-speed Internet subs increased 77% in the last year, and has seen consumption double every 15 months.

“It’s interesting to sit here and say, ‘Wow, I’ve got enough to get by right now.' But in five years you’re going to change your mind,” MidCo VP of technology Jon Pederson said in this video about the initiative. 

“As the gold standard, gigabit Internet delivers a speed that the vast majority of Americans can only dream of accessing,” said Pat McAdaragh, president and CEO of Midcontinent Communications, in a statement. “Midcontinent will make world-class, gigabit Internet access available to most of our customers by the end of 2017, and we’re not limiting it to a few neighborhoods in the largest cities.”

In was not immediately clear if the tech plan calls for MidCo to deliver gigabit speeds with all-fiber networks or if it also intends to use DOCSIS 3.1 technology when it becomes available.

MidCo, whose project is getting underway as President Obama asks the FCC to reclassify broadband as a Title II service, joins a growing group of cable operators that have also introduced gigabit initiatives. For example, Cox Communications has plans in motion to begin market-wide deployment of gigabit speeds by the end of 2016, starting in Phoenix, where it’s marketing the service under the “G!GABLAST” brand. Suddenlink Communications’ “Operation Gigaspeed” project is targeting top speeds of 1-Gig in 90% of its footprint by 2017.