SCTE-ISBE has announced three CEOs for its roundtable discussion during the upcoming virtual Cable-Tec Expo. Dave Watson, president and CEO of Comcast Cable; Tom Rutledge, chairman and CEO, Charter Communications; and Tom Fries, vice chairman and CEO of Liberty Global, will be featured on the panel.

This year's cable expo will take place virtually due to COVID-19 from Oct. 12-15 and will address the industry's response to the pandemic and the evolution of a next-gen 10G platform. 

The CEO panel will be moderated by Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs, during the Expo’s general session on Monday, Oct. 12.

The general session, which begins 11 a.m. ET, will also feature president and CEO of SCTE-ISBE, Mark Dzuban interviewing Ed Marchetti, senior VP, operations, Comcast, and Tom Monaghan, president of field operations of Charter, with remarks by NCTA-The Internet and Television Association president and CEO Michael Powell.  

Related: SCTE Slates Virtual Cable Tec-Expo

“This year’s opening session, and Cable-Tec Expo as a whole, will demonstrate the awesome future of advanced connectivity and honor the resiliency and excellence demonstrated by the cable industry as our critical role became front and center during the pandemic,” said Dzuban. “The work of Expos past prepared us for today’s challenges, and during this year’s event we will build on the knowledge sharing and innovation of the past to prepare for a future that will be transformed by connectivity.”

“Connectivity is the foundation for services and applications that can change — and save — lives,” he added. “The pandemic underscored the critical nature of our work and tested and validated cable’s resiliency... We are excited to come together virtually in October to build on this momentum.”

The Consumer Electronics Show has become perhaps the biggest trade event to move online in the COVID-19 era.

Event producer the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced Tuesday that the 2021 event, originally set to unfurl in Las Vegas Jan. 6-9, will be moved to an online-only format.

Also read: Coronavirus Cancellations: Everything You Need to Know About How the Outbreak Is Impacting the Global Media-Tech Events Business

"Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it's just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. "Technology helps us all work, learn and connect during the pandemic – and that innovation will also help us reimagine CES 2021 and bring together the tech community in a meaningful way. By shifting to an all-digital platform for 2021, we can deliver a unique experience that helps our exhibitors connect with existing and new audiences.

"We plan to return to Las Vegas for CES 2022, combining the best elements of a physical and digital show," Shapiro added.

CES 2020 drew 170,000 attendees and more than 4,400 exhibitors, spread out over 2.9 million square feet of floor space, CTA said. Attendance was down by 175,000 from 2019.

It's only the latest media tech convention to succumb to the pandemic, with the 2020 iterations of NAB Show, IBC and SCTE-ISBE's Cable-Tec Expo all moving online.

The Cable TV Pioneers organization said Friday that it will choose a class of honorees, named by early July, and intends to have an induction celebration on Oct. 13 even though the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo to which the ceremony had been linked was canceled. "The organization is studying a variety of options for the 54th Annual induction" which it intends to hold on Oct. 13 as previously announced, the group said in a statement. "As event details become formalized, they will share this information and news among members, sponsors, nominees and friends. In the meanwhile, the Cable TV Pioneers extends its appreciation to SCTE-ISBE and to all supporters while they organize another must-attend induction."

Related: SCTE Cancels 2020 Cable-Tec Expo

The engineering group's Expo was to take place at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver but it was canceled after it was learned the convention center would not be available during the week the Expo was scheduled. Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, said the convention center would keep its designation as a temporary medical facility throughout 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pioneers said "a new and exciting celebration" would be held "in lieu of the live, major banquet" that had been slated for the evening before the Expo began.

Broadening its scope into the emerging technology areas being tapped into by its core cable constituencies’ ever-more-sprawling broadband networks, SCTE/ISBE announced Tuesday the formation of seven new standards bodies.

The groups fall under the heading of what SCTE/ISBE calls its “Explorer Initiative,” which has a mission to form “a safer, more connected society.” Groups will include the following:

• Telehealth and Aging in Place
• Telemedicine
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Smart Cities
• Autonomous Transport
• Extended Spectrum (Up to 3.0 GHz)
• Human Factors Affecting Network Reliability

Members of each working group will collaborate with subject matter experts from across industries to develop standards and best practices that will capitalize on the capabilities of cable’s next-generation HFC broadband networks.

As these networks push toward the cable industry’ “10G” speed goals, “it will create opportunities for the advancement of emerging and yet-to-be-imagined technologies, many of which will better prepare societies for health crises and natural disasters,” SCTE/ISBE notes in its statement. “The current COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the value of telemedicine, aging in place, telehealth and smart cities. This initiative will help to drive those capabilities forward, better preparing societies for situations like the one currently facing countries across the globe.”

Members of the SCTE/ISBE Explorer working groups will establish or update standards and operational practices; share insights fostered within their organizations, including operational feedback from their lab and field trials; and create reference libraries with related solutions and innovations.

“Cable’s critical role at the nexus of the telecommunications and technology industries will only become more prominent as the industry ramps toward services powered by 10G,” said Chris Bastian, senior VP and CTIO for SCTE/ISBE. “By partnering with visionary companies, SCTE•ISBE can create standards, operational practices and training that will enable stakeholders to shorten time to market for new services.”

As cable operators shift to broadband-first strategies, emphasizing high-speed internet access, industrywide tech organizations CableLabs and SCTE-ISBE are looking into the future to build next generation infrastructures.

A key part of that is upgrades to broadband networks, including 10G networks that will offer speeds of 10 gigabits per second. “10G is a major initiative for us and you will see the first trials in 2020,” Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers-International Society of Broadband Experts president and CEO Mark Dzuban said.

Some of this is being driven by the move to higher-quality video formats, including High Dynamic Range (HDR) formats that offer much improved color and higher resolution formats like 4K and 8K. “We have a number of members that are working to prepare to start broadcasting in 8K around the 2020 Olympics,” explained Phil McKinney, the president and CEO of CableLabs.

RELATED:The New Normal: Streaming Takes Center Stage

The move towards streaming, internet-protocol video and a host of other services — ranging from gaming to video conferencing, education and telemedicine — are also driving demand for faster networks. “Low latency is a critical part of improving the gaming experience,” Dzuban said. “If you have multiple 4K terminals [TVs and other devices] streaming 4K or 8K video, that can exhaust bandwidth very quickly.”

Cord-cutting is another major factor. In a recent study of operators, OpenVault found that broadband usage hit 275 gigabits a month in the third quarter of 2019, up from 228 GB a year earlier.

Even larger increases were found in homes that cut the cord. OpenVault found that broadband customers who cut the cord in March of 2019 increased their usage from 387 GB a month to 488 GB by June of 2019. “Cord-cutting and consumers going on broadband only is going to have a major impact on their networks,” Mark Trudeau, CEO and founder of OpenVault, said.

Further down the pike are also new technologies like light field displays, noted Dzuban and McKinney. These light field displays show full, volumetric 3D images with no need for glasses.

McKinney noted that some smaller displays, about one foot wide, are already in operation and that CableLabs has been working on the technologies with members such as Charter for three and a half years. He said the first consumer applications should become available in the next three to eight years.

But those applications will require huge amounts of bandwidth and data, which makes the 10G initiatives even more important. “A five-minute clip will take up hundreds and hundreds of terabytes,” McKinney said. “To deliver that into a reasonably sized TV you need a gigabit network or maybe something a little faster.”

ATLANTA -- Bill Warga, vice president, Technology for Liberty Global, and Tom Adams, executive vice president, Field Operations for Charter Communications, will co-chair the program committee for SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2019 in New Orleans.

The news broke during day one of the Cable-Tec Expo 2018 in Atlanta. Warga and Adams were re-elected as chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the SCTE•ISBE board of directors here.

Now the cable industry’s largest annual convention, the Expo -- which will mark its 50th edition next year -- is slated to be hosted in Denver and Atlanta multiple times between next year and 2019, with one-time stops in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

“In our role as the industry’s applied science arm, SCTE•ISBE is looked to for engineering expertise and workforce development that can move the needle in deployments,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and the International Society of Broadband Experts, said in a statement. “Bill Warga’s background as immediate past chair of our Engineering Committee and Tom Adams’ keen understanding of the connection between workforce education and operational excellence ensure that Cable-Tec Expo 2019 will address those areas in ways that can have material impact on operators’ bottom lines.”

“The innovative spirit of our vendor community and the desire of operators to drive new customer experiences continue to fuel the success of cable telecommunications,” Warga said in the release. “Tom and I will be working together with the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2019 Program Committee and our partners at NCTA and CableLabs to harness that energy and build an event that creates real value for our industry.”

“Ensuring that the workforce has the knowledge and the resources needed to convert new technologies into great customer experiences is key to cable’s future success,” Adams said. “I look forward to working with Bill and the 2019 Program Committee to continue the enhancement of SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo’s role in the industry’s educational and operational ecosystem.”

ATLANTA -- SCTE has announced a 10-year plan for Cable-Tec Expo that will include frequent stops at cable industry hubs Denver and Atlanta, increased commitment from the MSO community and broad measures designed to increase sales interaction for exhibiting companies.

Following 2019’s 50th anniversary event in New Orleans, the Society of Cable Technology Engineers’ signature trade show will visit Denver and Atlanta multiple times through 2029, while making one-time stops in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

MSO sponsors, meanwhile, will take het lead in creating program content, securing speakers and ensuring participation by senior leadership. Meanwhile, SCTE will also implement broad measures to enhance the value proposition for exhibitors, working to increase interaction with customers and potential customers through reconstruction of the Cable-Tec Expo Exhibitor Committee.

Announcement of the 10-year plan comes with the backer’s of this year’s Cable-Tec Expo event, kicking off Tuesday in Atlanta, expecting robust attendance.

“Our goal with this plan is to continue to build the relevance and value of Expo as a platform for driving learning and development, applied science, and technology leadership for the next decade.” said Bill Warga, VP of technology for Liberty Global and chair of the board of directors for SCTE, as well as its sibling org, the International Society of Broadband Experts.

“What’s fueled the success of Cable-Tec Expo in recent years has been the willingness of operators, vendors, and our partner organizations to make the event a priority for their teams,” added Tom Adams, executive VP of field operations for Charter Communications and vice-chair of the SCTE•ISBE Board of Directors. “Our plan is designed to provide a framework that will help the industry as a whole continue to leverage the power of Expo to promote technical excellence and innovation that can drive bottom line results.”

Network engineering leaders from Comcast, Charter, Cox, Shaw and Denmark’s Stofa will headline the speakers at a seminar focused on Distributed Access Architectures (DAA), which will help kick off this year’s SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in Atlanta on Oct. 22.

A follow-up to last year’s Remote PHY seminar at the Expo in Denver, this year’s event will address the ability of DAAs and the Headend Rearchitected as a Datacenter (HERD) to drive cost efficiencies, decrease time to market and increase customer satisfaction. The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers says more than 600 attendees are already registered.

Related: SCTE Announces Finalists for Energy 2020 Adaptive Power Challenge

Speakers include Kevin Kwasny, principal enter for Charter Communications; Rob Howald, VP of network architecture for Comcast; Jeff Finkelstein, executive director of advanced technologies for Cox Communications; Jamie Brown, director of network technologies for Shaw Communications; and Kjeld Balmer, head of network technology for Stofa A/S.

On the vendor side, speakers include Arris’ Tom Cloonan, CTO for network solutions, and Mike Emmendorfer, VP of systems engineering and architecture; Peter Wolff, VP of wireline product management for Casa Systems; John Chapman, CTO of cable access and fellow at Cisco; Asaf Matatyaou, VP of solutions and product management at Harmonic; Barak Hermesh, owner of network technology for the Intel Network Platforms Group; Steven Krapp, technical marketing director at MaxLinear; Jeff White, head of cable strategy and business development at Nokia; Timon Sloane, VP of marketing and ecosystem from the Open Networking Foundation; and Colin Howlett, VP of architecture for Vecima Networks.

Related: Charter, Comcast, Cox Execs Added to Cable-Tec Expo Opener

The event is jointly sponsored by CableLabs, which will also have two technologists present—Doug Jones, principal architect, and Jon Schnorr, lead engineer for network technologies. 

SCTE/ISBE and its partners said a record pool of more than 100 speakers are on tap to present at the Fall Technical Forum at Cable-Tec Expo 2018 in Atlanta.

RELATED: Cox’s Pat Esser to Keynote Cable-Tec Expo 2018

The Fall Technical Forum, produced in partnership with the NCTA-The Internet & Television Association and CableLabs, is slated to feature 104 presentations via four dozen workshops, another record for the event, the organizations said.

Those workshops will focus on areas spanning areas that include wireline, wireless, customer experience, video, the Internet of Things, cloud, operations and security, and individual topics such as FTTH and distributed access architectures, high dynamic range, DOCSIS, 5G, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

Selections were made from more than 261 abstract submissions, the organizations said.

Cable-Tec Expo is set for Oct. 22 to 25 at the Georgia World Congress Center.  

Englewood, Colo. – Full-fledged deployments of Full Duplex (FDX) DOCSIS are likely still a couple of years away, but CableLabs believes that suppliers have made enough progress to be ready for initial interoperability testing later this year.

Interops are expected to underway in earnest in 2019, but the start of that work could get underway by the fourth quarter of 2018, Doug Jones, principal architect at CableLabs, said here Wednesday (June 6) at an operations roundtable that was part of the Rocky Mountain SCTE Chapter’s 23rd annual Engineering Symposium. 

That work will help to establish important groundwork on product interoperability for FDX DOCSIS, an annex to the DOCSIS 3.1 specs that will support symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds on widely deployed hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks.

CableLabs released the physical layer specs for FDX DOCSIS last fall, and followed with the addition of MAC Layer support in January.

RELATED: Full Duplex DOCSIS Takes Another Step Forward

Though the prescribed path to FDX DOCSIS involved a node-plus-zero network (the creation of a passive network whereby there are no amplifiers between the node and the home), CableLabs is also working on other approaches that won’t necessarily require N+0 to get MSOs started on that path, Jones noted.

CableLabs, he explained, is building a plan based on a node-plus-five environment. “We’re going to prove that FDX equipment will work on that, as a path toward FDX DOCSIS and get you that 1-Gig symmetrical tier maybe without having to go node-plus-zero first,” Jones said.

Having some flexibility is important because HFC networks are far from uniform between cable operators and even inside the operators themselves. Some have segments of the network at node-plus-15 and others at node-plus-zero, and everything in between.

And there are major business decisions to consider with moving to N+0.

“There’s a big battle that exists out there on cost that’s going to keep thwarting node-plus-zero for a while,” said Tom Gorman, the founder and president of opXL, and a cable engineering exec late of operators such as Comcast and Charter Communications.

By way of example, he said some plant extensions still require an amplifier to boost the signal.

“There’s got to be a very concerted effort and plan and willingness to spend to get to that node-plus-zero [architecture],” Gorman said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done there.”

And as cable operators take fiber deeper into the network, Gorman warned that they must be careful to ensure that their workforces continue to support technicians who know their way around coax.

“We’re finding that there’s not enough people to splice coax,” Gorman said. “The coax splicing is becoming the dying art, and [cable operators] still have a ton of coax out there. That’s where there’s a hole that’s getting bigger and bigger.”

The panel, moderated by Leslie Ellis, president of EllisEdits and a Multichannel News contributor, also touched cable’s role with 5G, and how MSOs can participate in that evolution amid the move to a standard that will deliver higher speeds and lower latencies and will be enabled in part by small cells that can be backhauled by cable’s widely deployed HFC plant and growing fiber networks.

RELATED: Cable is Wired for 5G

Cable’s move to FDX DOCSIS and distributed access architectures make HFC suitable for dense, 5G microcells, Dan Rice, vice president of HFC architecture at Comcast, said.

“All [telecom companies] are headed to the same spot, with fiber to remote nodes and physical layers out in the node, he said.

RELATED: Need to Know: 5G-Riding Wireless’s Next Wave

Gorman added that future 5G applications such as low-latency connectivity for autonomous vehicles, will present new challenges and opportunities for the cable industry.

Cable will need to focus the accuracy, reliably and availability of those 5G networks.

“The applications for [5G] will be lifeline applications, and it just makes our plant reliability all the more important,” Gorman said. “This is critical stuff we’re talking about beyond that 5G can deliver more bandwidth wirelessly.”

More details from this panel, including cable’s work with Full Duplex DOCSIS and the emerging use of machine learning for cable network operations will be featured in the June 11 issue of Broadcasting & Cable. 

The SCTE/ISBE said the CEOs of three policy- and tech-facing organizations will kick off the Innovation Theater component of this year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Atlanta, and shed some light on the issues affecting tier 2/3 cable operators and rural service providers.

The Innovation Theater kickoff panel, called Off The Beaten Path: Strategies For Success In Small, Midsize and Rural Markets, is set for Tuesday, Oct. 23. It will feature Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association; Rich Fickle, president and CEO of the National Cable Telecommunications Cooperative (NCTC); and Matt Polka, president and CEO of the American Cable Association (ACA).

“Small, mid-size and rural service providers are essential to fulfilling the promise of ubiquitous broadband coverage,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “NTCA, NCTC, and ACA are well-positioned to share their members’ needs with the Expo audience, as well as how that translates into future technology roadmaps.”

Cable-Tec Expo 2018 is set for Oct. 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications, will keynote the show’s opening general session.

RELATED: NCTA, CableLabs, SCTE/ISBE CEOs to Share Stage at Cable-Tec Expo

The presidents and CEOs of three industry organizations will share the stage in a joint panel at Cable-Tec Expo 2018, set for Oct. 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

The panel, to be part of the show’s opening general session on Tuesday, Oct. 23, will feature Michael Powell, president and CEO of the NCTA — The Internet & Television Association; Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs; and Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, the organization that’s putting on the annual event.

The panel, titled, An Integrated Circuit: Closing the Links Between Innovation, Deployment and ROI, will be moderated by Tony Werner, president, technology and product, Comcast Cable.

SCTE/ISBE announced last week that Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications, will keynote the show’s opening general session.

Kevin Hart, EVP and chief product and technology officer of Cox, is serving as program chair for this year’s Cable-Tec Expo.

Last fall’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver drew 8,800 registered attendees.

“The cable industry’s leadership in deploying new technologies has been a cornerstone of our mission to provide consumers with services that make their lives better,” Powell, said in a statement. “As technology continues to transform connectivity and entertainment, our organizations will lay the foundation for rapid implementation of next-generation products that will continue to meet consumer demand.”

“When we look at the next 10 years, we see tremendous opportunities not only for cable but for cable’s impact on healthcare, education, automotive, and any industry that requires access to high-speed broadband,” added McKinney. “The close relationship with NCTA and SCTE•ISBE helps the industry deploy CableLabs’ innovations to the benefit of those customers.”

“SCTE•ISBE’s applied science mission is fundamental to bringing the vision of NCTA’s members and CableLabs’ innovators to life,” said Dzuban. “Our collaboration with both organizations has spurred development of training, certification, and standards that have helped to accelerate the time-to-market and ROI for products that are maintaining cable’s competitive edge.”

Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications, will keynote Cable-Tec Expo 2018, set for Oct. 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

SCTE/ISBE said Esser will keynote the show’s opening general session on Tuesday, Oct. 23, and discuss topics such as product innovation and service delivery.

RELATED: Cable-Tec Expo: Cox’s Kevin Hart to Chair 2018 Show

“In recent years, the eyes of the cable industry have been on SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo as the focal point for new technologies that can positively impact bottom lines for the industry,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “As president of one of cable’s most highly regarded companies, Pat Esser is uniquely positioned to share insights about the future of the industry and the approaches that are needed to sustain success.”

“Our customers today have a greater choice of communications and entertainment options than ever before,” added Esser, who also serves on the boards of C-SPAN, CableLabs and NCTA-The Internet & Television Association. “SCTE/ISBE and Cable-Tec Expo play important roles in ensuring that we have the standards, the workforce training and the applied science leadership that are fundamental to the seamless delivery of services that enable our industry to stand out from the crowd of competitors.”

SCTE-ISBE has hooked up with Comcast and Liberty Global on a contest that will look both inside and outside the industry for new ideas and “breakthroughs” on how to manage energy across broadband networks.

The contest, called the Adaptive Power Challenge, aims to spur development on new technologies and solutions that can help manage energy across broadband networks.

The contest will award winners in two categories – Established Enterprises (includes companies with 250 or more employees), and Breakthrough Organizations subs as labs, universities and startups. Each winner will get $10,000. Per the fine print, applicants must be 18 years or older. Applicants retain all rights to the documents submitted and all content.

There’s no fee to enter. An application deadline has been set for Friday, June 29. Organizers said the industry is particularly interested in solutions that address access networks and edge facilities, which represent between 73% to 83% of a cable operator’s energy consumption.

Entries will be evaluated in Q3 2018 by a panel of judges that includes Debbie Fitzgerald, principal architect at CableLabs; Mark Glaser, senior engineering, critical facilities engineering and operation at Cox Communications; Mark Hess, SVP of business and industry affairs at Comcast Cable; Sam Khola, director of sustainability at Liberty Global; Todd Musat, director, critical infrastructure service, Shaw Communications; and John Dolan, senior guideline specialist at Rogers Communications.

Finalists in each category will be announced September 12 at the SCTE-ISBE Standards Energy Management Systems Plenary in Louisville, Colo.

Six finalists will compete by presenting their solutions on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at the Cable-Tec Expo in Atlanta, with two winners to be announced on-site.

The presentation portion of the contest among the six finalists will use a Shark Tank-type format, noted Chris Bastian, SVP and CTO at SCTE-ISBE.

Winners will also be invited to MSO labs to work on ideas that, hopefully, develop into scalable solutions, he added.

The Adaptive Power Challenge ties into the SCTE-ISBE Energy 2020 program. The current goals are to reduce power consumption by 20% on a unit basis, reduce energy costs by 25% on a unit basis, and to reduce grid dependency by 5%.

Bastian said the current goals of the program, which hit its mid-point in 2017, are on track.

That work also has connections to the Adaptive Power Systems Interface Specification (APSIS), also known as SCTE 216, which aims to give MSOs a way to adjust power consumption on converged cable access platform (CCAP) devices during peak and non-peak periods.

RELATED: Comcast Tests ‘Turning the Knob’ on CCAPs

“The Adaptive Power System Interface Specification and other APSIS-related standards were created to give cable communications providers a universal framework for reduction of unnecessary energy usage,” Frank Sandoval, chair of the SCTE-ISBE Standards Program’s APSIS Working Group, said in a statement. “The Adaptive Power Challenge’s incentives are intended to encourage anyone with a creative energy idea to help us expedite innovative applications that can deliver real results for the broadband industry and the communities it serves.”

SCTE/ISBE has struck a partnership with Millicom that includes a commitment to provide advanced training, at scale, for the operator’s cable workforce in Latin America.

Under the agreement, SCTE/ISBE will provide 700 of Millicom’s employees and business partners with access to Spanish-language training in on-premises installation, cable distribution, and wireless technologies.

Millicom is also the first operator in the region to secure an enterprise license for SCTE/ISBE training, with access to the organization’s Corporate Alliance Partner (CAP) program, which was launched in 2014.

RELATED: SCTE/ISBE Expands ‘Corporate Alliance Partner’ Ranks

Millicom operates under the brand Tigo in Latin America.

“As we continue to expand our cable footprint through high-speed broadband technology, having access to SCTE•ISBE training will sharpen the skills of our engineering professionals in response to all aspects of our Tigo operations, from legacy technologies to newer advances in mobility and cybersecurity,” Xavier Rocoplan, EVP and chief technology and information officer at Millicom, said in a statement.

SCTE/ISBE, CableLabs and NCTA-The Internet & Television Association has set a March 30 deadline for paper proposals for the Fall Technical Forum at Cable-Tec Expo, which is set to run October 22-25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Selected tech papers will be presented during Cable-Tec Expo and will be published as part of the industry’s archival body of technical literature, the Fall Technical Forum Proceedings.

They said the Expo the Fall Technical Forum this year will target the following areas:

-Wireline Access Network

-Wireless Access Network

-Internet of Things

-Digitizing the Customer Experience

-Cloud & Virtualization

-Operational Transformation

-Business Services

-Video Services

-Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

-Security

The Expo 2018 Program Committee is chaired by Kevin Hart, EVP and chief product and technology officer for Cox Communications.

Last year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver drew about 8,800 attendees.

Tom Adams, executive vice president of Charter Communications and vice chair of the SCTE/ISBE Board of Directors, will deliver a featured presentation during the SCTE/ISBE Leadership at Tuck Executive Education program at Dartmouth, set for May 6-11.

Adams’s session is slated for Wednesday, May 9. Dave Watson, president and CEO of Comcast Cable and senior executive vice president of Comcast Corp., is slated toaddress attendees on Monday, May 7.

Adams, who has played a big role in Charter’s integration of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, will speak on the importance of managing change and bringing together diverse corporate cultures in today’s dynamic business environment, SCTE/ISBE said.

Adams, who has national oversight of field operations for Charter, previously spent 17 years with Time Warner Cable as regional vice president of operations for Wisconsin, and regional vice president of operations for Eastern Carolina. Earlier in his career, he worked for NewChannels Corporation in various leadership roles, including vice president of new business.

The annual SCTE/ISBE-Tuck program is in its eight year.

SCTE/ISBE said it has appointed four Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) as non-voting observers of the organization’s board of directors, and as chairs of select board committees for the current year.

The appointments are:

-Dave Fellows, co-founder and CTO, Layer3 TV (now part of T-Mobile), as chair of the Engineering Committee;

-Jim Hughes, vice president, North American MSO Sales, CommScope (Governance and Nomination Committees);

-Andy Parrott, senior vice president, operations, Altice USA (Technical Services, Learning & Development Committee; and

-Dr. Martha Soehren, chief talent development officer and SVP, Comcast (Compensation Committee and Learning & Development SME).

SCTE/ISBE said the appointed four will provide its board will help to create programs and policies intended to increase the value of the organization to its operator, technology partner, and individual members. 

They are also expected to attend SCTE/ISBE’s next board meeting, set for Thursday, Feb. 8 in Denver.

“Last year’s report by the Cable Industry Organization Review Committee underscored SCTE/ISBE’s significant contributions to our industry,” Bill Warga, vice president, technology, for Liberty Global, and chair of the SCTE/ISBE board of directors, said in a statement. “As leaders in their fields and as longtime contributors to SCTE•ISBE, they all are well positioned to provide expert insights to ensure the Society remains aligned with the needs of the industry in the years ahead.”

Dave Watson, president and CEO of Comcast Cable and senior executive vice president of Comcast Corp., will be a featured speaker during the SCTE/ISBE Leadership Institute Executive Education program at Dartmouth.

SCTE/ISBE said Watson will share his perspectives on the industry and leadership during a fireside chat and subsequent question-and-answer session with program attendees on Monday, May 7. 

Watson, a featured speaker at last fall’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, will be joined at SCTE/ISBE-Tuck by Tony Werner, president, Technology and Product, for Comcast Cable.

SCTE/ISBE-Tuck will be conducted Sunday, May 6 through Friday, May 11 on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, N.H.

The SCTE•ISBE Leadership Institute at Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth, entering its eight year,  attracts top execs, including senior directors, vice presidents, senior and executive vice presidents, as well as C-level executives from across the cable industry, the organization noted.

Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications, was featured at the 2017 program, and previous guest lecturers have included Michael Powell, president and CEO of NCTA—The Internet & Television Association; Neil Smit, now vice chairman of Comcast; Michael Angelakis, now chairman and CEO of Atairos; Balan Nair, now president and CEO of Liberty Global’s Latin American and Caribbean operations; Bob Stanzione, executive chairman and chairman of the board of Arris; Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs; and Jerry Kent, chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications prior to its acquisition by Altice. The late Glenn Britt, the former chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable, began the program’s tradition of industry guest lecturers in 2011, SCTE/ISBE noted.

“Year in and year out, our fireside chat tradition of bringing C-level insights to attendees is among the most highly anticipated elements of the SCTE•ISBE-Tuck curriculum,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement.  “We’re very grateful to Dave Watson for committing his time and energy to enrich the educational experience for the next generation of industry leaders.”

The SCTE/ISBE has promoted three execs in roles spanning IT, marketing and human resources.

Dave Edmunds has been promoted to senior director, applications development and integration; Zenita Henderson has been upped to senior director, marketing operations and business development, and Kathleen Sponaugle has been elevated to director, human resources.

Edmunds, previously director, applications development and integration, joined organization in 2015 following eight years with the American Association of Cancer Research.

Henderson, a member of the Cable TV Pioneers, joined SCTE/ISBE in 2016 after nearly three decades with General Instrument, Motorola, and Arris.

Sponaugle, who has been with SCTE/ISBE for about a decade, worked as a consultant for payroll, HR administration, and payroll- and benefits-related accounting, and she most recently was HR generalist and accountant. 

“As we align ourselves to meet the changing needs of the industry, we’re fortunate to have talented individuals who are stepping up to assume more responsibility,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “Dave Edmunds, Zenita Henderson, and Kathleen Sponaugle have contributed significantly to the development of and execution on the internal and external strategies that have enabled us to build value for the industry.”

The International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), the global arm of The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), and the U.K.-based Society for Broadband Professionals said they have signed a memorandum of understanding that provides a framework for “continuing and future cooperation” that will include training harmonization.

The MoU was signed last Friday (October 20) at the ISBE International Breakfast, held during the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expoin Denver.

The agreement includes an intention from both organizations to set up a working group that harmonizes their activities as well as cooperative activities that, together, aim to boost the quality of their respective training portfolios.

Last month, the groups confirmed that Society for Broadband Professionals’ input is being integrated for the first time into an existing ISBE course.

Discussions are underway for other cooperative ventures, including the ability of each society to endorse the others’ training courses and final certification.  Both groups recently exhibited together at the Liberty Global Technology Summit, held last month in Amsterdam, they said.

The latest MoU follows an earlier one, announced in February 2016, that aimed to address brand confusion between the U.S.- and U.K.-based organizations, which both use the “SCTE” initialism. To help smooth out matters, the U.S.-based SCTE introduced ISBE as a brand in September 2014.

RELATED: SCTE Does Deal With SCTE

“We are delighted to be formalising our continuing collaborative relationship with ISBE and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers,” Mike Thornton, president of the Society for Broadband Professionals, said in a statement. “Ultimately, this will benefit all our members, those taking our training courses and the industry as a whole.”

“This is a great step forward for our organisations, both of which have built strong reputations in the global training field with a range of customers across the cable telecommunications sector,” added Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of the SCTE/ISBE. “As the need for cable education continues to expand around the world, our ability to work together will help to create new programmes that will build value for our industry.”

SCTE•ISBE announced Friday that this week's Cable-Tec Expo in Denver drew 8,800 registered attendees, down slightly from the 9,100 that the event drew in 2014, the last time Expo was held in the Mile High City.

Read More: Complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2017

The Society neared the 2014 total despite ongoing industry consolidation that contributed to a decision last year by the NCTA: The Internet & Television Association and its members to sunset INTX: The Internet & Television Expo, the event formally known as The Cable Show.

Last year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Philadelphia, home to Comcast, drew more than 10,000.

SCTE•ISBE said about 22% of this year’s attendees came from outside the U.S., and 19% of the registered total were first-time attendees.

Among highlights this year in Denver, Tuesday’s half-day Remote PHY seminar drew more than 400, more than double the expected number, requiring organizers to open up two standing-room only overflow rooms.

RELATED: Ramping Up For Remote PHY

This year’s show also was home to more than 400 exhibitor booths, a number that included 75 first-time exhibitors.  There were 98 fall Technical Forum sessions, up 36% from last year’s workshop program.

“While all of the metrics around SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2017 were strong, what’s most important is how we’ve continued to improve the quality of the program offered to attendees,”  Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “Thanks to the guidance of multiple supporters – most notably our program chairs, Jim Blackley and Terry Cordova; our outgoing board chair, Tony Werner; and our new board chair, Bill Warga – Expo 2017 set new standards as an event that underscores SCTE•ISBE’s role as the catalyst for new technologies that are the backbone of our industry.”

Cable-Tec Expo 2018 will be held Oct. 22-Oct. 25 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.  Kevin Hart, executive vice president and chief product and technology officer for Cox Communications, will serve as program committee chairman for next year’s show.

Denver -- At its annual awards luncheon here Wednesday, SCTE•ISBE honored Comcast Cable’s Ed Marchetti as the organization’s Member of the Year, while two other industry vets – David Fellows and Dr. Rickey Luke – were inducted to the SCTE•ISBE Hall of Fame.

Read More: Complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2017

Member of the Year, and David Fellows of Layer3 TV and Dr. Rickey Luke of Cable TV of East Alabama are the newest inductees into the SCTE•ISBE Hall of Fame, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), announced today.

A Society member since 1994, Marchetti is the senior vice president of technical operations for Comcast and has been a staunch advocate for SCTE•ISBE and its training mission, engaging Comcast’s engineering and technical operations with his nationwide ambassador program, the organization said.

Marchetti is also helping Comcast to realize maximum benefit from its SCTE•ISBE Corporate Alliance Partnership, the organization said.

Among the new Hall of Famers, Fellows is a co-founder and current CTO of Denver-based next-gen MVPD Layer3 TV and a former Comcast CTO. He is a pioneer who has been instrumental in bringing fiber optics and digital technology into the satellite and cable industry, and helped to achieve that when he was president of the transmission systems business division for Scientific Atlanta (now part of Cisco Systems) from 1987 to 1992.

Fellows, a longtime chair of the Society’s Data Standards Subcommittee, also received the SCTE•ISBE Excellence in Standards Award at this year’s luncheon.

Fellow HoF inductee Luke is CTO and vice president, engineering at Cable TV of East Alabama, and a 45-year vet of the cable industry. He is credited for being active in deploying fiber architecture while the technology was still in the early stages of development.

Other awards bestowed by the Society this week include:

-Guavus earned the Society’s Innovators Award for its Reflex platform, which provides critical context and the ability to predict outcomes with deterministic data.

-Comcast University’s Dr. Martha Soehren was presented with the Chairman’s Award by the outgoing chair of the Society’s board of directors, Tony Werner of Comcast Cable. Dr. Soehren is chief talent development officer and senior vice president of Comcast Cable Communications.

-Deborah Picciolo, senior vice president of the west region, Charter Communications, was the recipient of the Women in Technology Award, which is presented each year by WICT, SCTE•ISBE, and Cablefax.

-Rolando Barja, director, redes coaxiales, COTAS RL, will be presented with the International Engineering Professional Award on Friday (October 20) at the ISBE International Attendee Breakfast.

-Lisa Leaunvankham, procurement analyst 2 (NGAN), Comcast Cable Communications, received the inaugural Rising Leader Award during the Member Appreciation Reception on Tuesday.

-Two professionals gained Senior Member recognition during Tuesday’s Member Appreciation Reception: Jason Hibbard, director of engineering, Comcast Cable Communications, and Daniel Howard, director of consulting services, Hitachi Energy & Environmental Efficiency.

-The Society’s South and Central Americas Meeting Group was elevated to Chapter status during the Chapter Leaders Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

-Ron Hranac, technical leader, engineering, Cisco Systems, was presented at the luncheon with the David Hall Award for Best Presentation 2017, an honor bestowed by the Society for Broadband Professionals and typically presented each year at this sister organization’s annual gala, in London.

Denver -- Cable operators are facing competition on all fronts, requiring them to develop and launch new services at a clip that’s never been as rapid.

Read More: Complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2017

But staying ahead of old and new rivals also means that MSOs must continue to invest in their “core competency, which is our networks,” Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global said here Wednesday in a keynote conversation with Tony Werner, president, technology and product at Comcast Cable. 

“This [the network] is the secret sauce for us,” Fries said. “We fight fire with fire.”

Keeping those networks humming and updated keeps cable ahead of the capacity curve while also keeping new competition in check.

One such competitor that came up was Amazon, which has “unprecedented scale” and “unquenchable ambition.”

“A press release from these guys can disrupt industries,” Fries said.

Though video represents just one-third of Liberty Global’s revenues, advancing that platform remains paramount, Fries said, citing his company’s work on its Horizon service and the company’s adoption of the Reference Design Kit, a preintgrated software stack for IP-connected set-tops and gateways.

He said Netflix proved out how seamless functionality and navigation across screens is now critical, believing that Liberty Global, which is integrating Netflix on its own boxes, has bridged that “functionality gap.”

Tying in Netflix is leading to more video consumption on Liberty Global’s platform and those customers tend to churn less and pay more. “Why wouldn’t you put Netflix in that box?” Fries said.

RELATED: RELATED: Liberty Global: Netflix for All

Turning to broadband, Fries said that service has been “the weapon of choice for us for some time” in Europe, calling it the company’s “killer app.”

The average customer, he said, now gets a 100 Mbps service on average, with “bull’s eye” speeds of 150 Mbps and 250 Mbps.

“We’re not selling anything with two digits anymore,” Fries said, adding that 90% of Liberty Global is now DOCSIS 3.1-ready, and is moving ahead with a D3.1 trial in Germany.

But Liberty Global, as some of its U.S.-based peers are becoming, is also a mobile company that delivers a quad-play largely through agreements with carriers that lets the MSO control the experience and essentially rent the towers.

“We’re all-in on mobile,” Fries said.

Fries also addressed the challenges Liberty Global and others in the industry face when it comes to attracting top talent.

He said Liberty Global, despite being a large company, has become “agile” in an entrepreurual sense.

“We’re bobbing and weaving where we need to be…We’re also in the center of everything that’s cool that’s happening,” he said, citing areas such as internet video, broadband, the Internet of Things and the content business. “Things are pivoting around us.”

Werner acknowledged that cable might not always be the first choice for some, “but we can compete in that [talent] market.”

Earlier in the conversation, Fries also addressed the massive challenges Liberty Global has been facing in Puerto Rico and other islands that were devastated by massive hurricanes.

“It’s about as bad as it gets,” Fries said, noting that the company has about 1,000 employees in Puerto Rico alone. Of the 1 million homes passed there, less than 1% are currently online.

“We’ll rebuild the networks,” Fries said. “But [it’s] more important to rebuild communities.”

Liberty Global has raised about $1.5 million for relief efforts. “It’s been rough, but I think we’ll rebound,” he said.

DENVER -- Following a vote here at the show, SCTE•ISBE announced Tuesday that Bill Warga, vice president, technology for Liberty Global, has been elected as chairman of the organization’s board for the 2017-2018 term.

Read More: Complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2017

Warga is to be joined on the 2016-2017 SCTE•ISBE board’s executive committee by newly-elected vice chairman Tom Adams, executive vice president, field operations for Charter Communications, and two  returning officers: Christina Whitaker, senior vice president, Keystone, Region, Comcast (Treasurer), and Steve Williams, director, DOCSIS network operations, Charter (Secretary).

Warga most recently served as vice chairman of the SCTE•ISBE board.  He also is chair of the SCTE•ISBE Engineering Committee, which has responsibility for the Society’s standards and operational practices activities.

In his new role at the Society, Warga succeeds Tony Werner, president, technology and product for Comcast Cable, who last year was re-elected chairman of the SCTE•ISBE for the 2016-2017 term.

“We’re grateful to Tony Werner for providing the guidance and support that have helped SCTE•ISBE adapt to changes in the industry environment,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Bill Warga as we continue to build domestic and international partnerships that can deliver business value to our operator, technology partner and individual members.”

As thousands converge on Denver for this week's SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, the industry continues to evolve to keep ahead of the changes that are affecting every facet of the cable business as well as technologies that are fueling it.

There’s ongoing consolidation of major and independent operators, increased competition from over-the-top video services and wireless-driven broadband services, and a critical need to train and develop a workforce that can keep pace with the ever-changing landscape.

Though change happening everywhere and a more diverse crowd than usual is expected to be on hand at this year’s show, execs there plan to put on an event that sticks to its knitting, with a focus on its hands-on approach to applied science along with a high-level view on how the industry’s technology and business initiatives are working hand-in-hand.

To get a fix on what’s new and coming up at this year’s show, Multichannel News technology editor Jeff Baumgartner recently caught up with Mark Dzuban, SCTE•ISBE’s president and CEO, and Terry Maloney, the Society’s vice president of marketing and business development.

A key difference heading into this year’s show will be the return of Dzuban, who was forced to miss last year’s show in Philadelphia in order to undergo a heart procedure. “I’m just elated that the team fulfilled the obligation to make sure it was a great show,” Dzuban said. “But [the procedure] went well and I’m excited about being there this year.”

An edited transcript of the discussion with Dzuban and Maloney follows:

Multichannel News: What's your sense on the top two or three themes that are going to be the centerpiece of this year's show? 

Mark Dzuban: I think this show is a good example of the community pulling together. I don't know many industries of this size and this maturity that do it. If I look at our two co-chairs -- Jim Blackley (Charter Communications) and Terry Cordova (Altice USA) -- they are experiencing some of some of the dynamics of consolidation [occurring] in our industry’s evolution. And I think they've done a tremendous job of leveraging Expo as the go-to, hands-on, applied science [event]. 

[Among other focuses of this year’s show include] the wireless component, continually developing IP networking, cybersecurity – they are three big hitters. But you'll see a program on Energy 2020, you'll see a program on innovation and what's coming down the pike.

CableLabs has about 1,500 square feet. So it's really filled the space that was needed, from an applied science perspective, and I look to our partners at NCTA and CableLabs to fulfill the opportunity for the thinkers and the people who are really the deployment folks, the implementers, to get together, to say here's where the rubber meets the road, and to share thinking and get the most current knowledge. 

MCN: What's going to be new and different at this year's show? 

MD: One is if you look at our opening session as an example. We've been through our evolution, focused on business results and not just an event for folks to get together. If you look at the opening session, we've got the home court, which is Mike Fries [CEO, Liberty Global], that will provide a lot of innovative thinking on how you deploy and operate.

We've got also Tom Rutledge [chairman and CEO of Charter], who is following up his keynote around the vision of Charter and where we're going.  And then you'll look at where we go with Dave Watson, another CEO [of Comcast Cable], who will be at the luncheon panel. He's joining Bruce McClelland, another CEO [of Arris], on that panel. 

We've evolving as key and instrumental to driving business results through collaboration and understanding of what the issues are and how SCTE, as a community solution provider.

I think that acknowledgement is improving. It's always been there to some extent, but I think from a C-suite [perspective] this is probably the most C-level folks we've had since I've been here.

MCN: How has, for example, consolidation and the sunsetting of the Cable Show/INTX affected how you assembled this year's program? Has that had an influence on how this year’s show has been put together? 

MD: There is some, but we're focused on the applied science and not getting distracted to recreate something that really isn't our focus. 

Terry Maloney: It provided us with an opportunity for collaboration with NCTA and CableLabs, even more so. They are co-sponsors of the Fall Technical Forum, which drives all of our workshops [and] a cornerstone of our show. 

They were instrumental in partnering with us in collaboration across the industry to drive those workshops and those papers to an increase of 32% of submissions and more workshops -- we're approaching 100 workshops at this year's Expo.

MCN: Given this complementary aspect, are you expecting a more diverse crowd this year than you've seen in prior years? 

MD: I think there will be to some extent. We certainly have the international side, which is continuing to grow, to about 15% of our attendance. They look at us as the center of gravity around not only the science, but how you operationalize some of the technology.

We’re having a special event, for the first time this year, about learning and development, which is the science around how you develop workforce skills for deploying and operating sophisticated technology.  Dr. Karl Kapp [director of the Institute for Interactive Technologies and professor of instructional technology at Bloomberg University in Pennsylvania] and Dr. Martha Soehren [senior vice president and chief talent development officer at Comcast] are going to represent that. [That invitation-only event is set for Wednesday, Oct. 18.]

I think you’ll also see some of the folks from the Pioneers attending our show (the Cable TV Pioneers banquet is to be held Tuesday, Oct. 17 at The Brown Palace in Denver), and that's related to technology to some extent, but there's some programmers and service and support folks involved there too. 

I think we will some more diversity, but it was made very clear to me by our partners to do what we do best, and that's the partnership with NCTA and CableLabs, and focus on the current science and applied science of legacy deployments, current deployments and forward-looking within three years. 

MCN: As you put things together, how has this affected your registration numbers heading toward the event? Are you ahead of schedule? What is your expectation for this year? 

TM: Right now we're trending very well compared to the last time we were in Denver [the 2014 event in the Mile High City drew about 9,100], so we're very optimistic.

Even though we start planning Expo a year in advance and start messaging and marketing it six months in advance, the industry doesn't respond with registrations until the week of. We have this huge hockey stick that happens to us, but we are trending year-over-year. And especially compared to the last time we were in Denver, we're trending very well.

As for our booth sales -- we had our best Expo ever in Philadelphia [in 2016] -- we've already matched the floor space sales for exhibitor space, and we’re still selling booth space.  

A half-day seminar on Remote PHY at next week’s SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver will all facets of an emerging architecture for HFC networks that has steadily climbed atop the industry’s engineering agenda.  

Read More: Complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2017

The seminar, set for Tuesday, Oct. 17 at the Colorado Convention Center (Room 401/402), is slated to get underway at 8 a.m. Below is the latest agenda (subject to change):

7:30-8:00 a.m.: Breakfast

8:00-8:15 a.m.: Welcome, Introductions and Agenda

-Chris Bastian, CTO, SCTE•ISBE

-Jorge Salinger, VP Access Architecture, Comcast

8:15-9:00 a.m.: Section 1: Why is Remote PHY useful to MSOs?

The session will cover the rationale and benefits of Remote PHY, which include reduced stress on headend space and power requirement and improved network performance and capacity. The session will also cover drivers for Remote PHY, including the growth in the number of service groups, and the concentration of headend equipment in fewer locations.

The session will also explore use-cases, such as service group segmentation, new-build deployments, how Remote PHY fits into brownfield scenarios, and discuss synergies with other initiatives such as Full Duplex DOCSIS.

Speakers and presenters:

-Jorge Salinger, Comcast

-Phil Oakley, head of access architecture, Liberty Global

-Jon Pederson, CTO, MidCo

-Jeff Baumgartner, technology editor, Multichannel News (moderator)

9:00-10:00 a.m.: What is Remote PHY?

Presenters and topics:

-John Chapman, fellow and CTO of Cisco Systems’s cable access business unit (fundamental architecture of Remote PHY and performance benefits). 

-Tom Cloonan, CTO, network solutions, Arris (Remote PHY core and device, and interoperability).

-Asaf Matatyaou, VP of solutions, Harmonic (virtualization of the core).

-David Eckard, CTO of fixed networks, Nokia (generations of Remote PHY Devices).

10:00-10:15 a.m.: Break

10:15–11:15 a.m.: Implementation of Remote PHY

-Comcast (presenter TBD): Single versus multi-core architecture; CMTS core, video core and OOB core; GCP principal core.

-Brian Kurtz, cable architect, Intel: Customizing network ops and management, and converging access technologies.

-Jan Ariesen, CTO, Technetix: Operations of Remote PHY

-Jon Schnoor, distinguished technologist, CableLabs: Remote PHY specifications, interops, testing and certification plan.

11:15 a.m. -Noon: Remote PHY Plans and Activities

-Q&A with all participating MSOs and vendors, covering vendor product plans, interoperability activities, trial approaches and service migration strategies, and deployment plans.

SCTE•ISBE said its “Corporate Alliance Partner” program has hit a milestone, as its ranks has risen to 30 members.

The organization introduced the CAP program in 2014 as part of an effort to bring new training tools and education programs to its partners and to broaden its membership base. Comcast, Time Warner Cable (now part of Charter Communications) and Suddenlink (now part of Altice USA) were CAP’s charter members.

RELATED: SCTE Launches ‘Corporate Alliance Program’

Benefits include discounts on individual employee memberships, downloads and regigrations for online courses, and seats at SCTE•ISBE Leadership Institute programs.

Other operator members of include Access Communications, Cablevisión, Charter, Cox Communications, GCI, Liberty Global, Midco, NBN, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, Shentel, Unity Media, and VTR. Vendor members include Adtran, Alpha Technologies, Amphenol Broadband Solutions, Arris, ATX, Cisco Systems, CommScope, Communication Associates, Corning, Decisive Communications, Exfo, Kaon, Kentik, Technetix, VeEX, and Viavi.

“The continued growth of all categories of our Corporate Alliance Program underscores SCTE•ISBE’s critical role in driving continued success for our industry,” Matt Aden, vice president, sales and operations for SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “As the technology hubs for the entire industry, SCTE•ISBE and its CAP program are able to directly impact bottom lines by accelerating technology implementation that enables revenue-generating services.”

SCTE•ISBE will use this month’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver to debut a 3D-powered platform aimed at boosting training efficiency and effectiveness in areas such as home-side service installation, as well as for  maintenance and troubleshooting for outside plant and at the headend.

The Society said this will be part of a demonstration of its CORTEX VirtuLearn suite of tools this month at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo. Its CORTEX NetworkSim is an online training environment that uses 3D simulations to provide virtual hands-on training.

CORTEX NetworkSim, designed for the organization by opXL Learning Systems, aims to help cable techs become more proficient in areas such as installs of video, voice, data services, Wi-Fi and security equipment, as well as work tied to the outside plant and the headends.

SCTE•ISBE said it will also show NetworkSim and other elements of VirtuLearn: LightningMods (quick learning tools and eBooks); VirtuGame (an element that reinforces learning concepts, at the CORTEX Lounge (Booth #451) during show exhibit hall hours from Wednesday, Oct. 18 through Friday, Oct. 20.

“As learning technology has improved and the needs of the industry have changed, SCTE•ISBE has been committed to finding new ways to implement training that minimizes impact on field operations and optimizes ROI,” Matt Aden, vice president, sales operations for SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “By collaborating with opXL, we’ve created a unique platform that enables workforce team members to independently learn, gain real-time feedback, and retain their newfound knowledge.”

“The need to maximize training without impacting field engineers’ day-to-day operational availability historically has been an important consideration for cable system operators,” added Tom Gorman, president of opXL.  “CORTEX NetworkSim has been designed to enable cable technical workforce members to increase skills and knowledge anytime, anywhere, and to serve as an essential technical resource that can provide on-the-job guidance when needed.”

SCTE•ISBE, with input from the American Cable Association and the National Cable Television Cooperative, said it has created a special track for this year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver that is tailored for execs and staff of small- and mid-sized cable operators.

The organizations said the “Experience” for that group includes a mix of seminar activities, VIP seating, workshops, and other events during the event, which runs from October 17-20 at the Colorado Convention Center.

Among specifics, the Experience will include an NCTC member gathering on October 17; an ACA State of the Industry/Washington Update on Oct. 19; and an Innovation Theater in the Exhibit Hall to discuss issues impacting small-/medium-sized market operators and members;

Additionally, there will be VIP seating for the Opening General Session the morning of October 18, preferred seating at the Annual Awards Luncheon later that day, and attendance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the Exhibit Hall. Also on tap is a guided tour of the exhibit hall, conducted by NCTC and ACA guides, and a private demo of the new “3D Cable World NetworkSim” learning environment at the SCTE•ISBE CORTEX Expert Development System Lounge.

“In our discussions with ACA and NCTC, it was clear that there were ways in which we could enhance the Expo experience to support their members’ goals,” Terry Maloney, vice president, marketing for SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “The program that we’ve put together will help those members zero in on the most appropriate educational content, optimize their time on the show floor, and hear exclusive presentations that are geared toward their issues.” 

Comcast Cable president and CEO Dave Watson and Arris CEO Bruce McClelland are on tap to speak at next month’s in SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver.

Watson and McClelland will discuss technology and business on Wednesday, Oct. 18, during the show’s annual awards luncheon. Jeff Baumgartner, technology editor at Multichannel News, will moderate the luncheon panel with the execs at the Mile High Ballroom at the Colorado Convention Center.

RELATED: Dave Watson to Become President and CEO of Comcast Cable

The luncheon follows an opening general session that will feature Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, and Tom Rutledge, chairman and CEO of Charter Communications.

RELATED: Charter, Comcast, Cox Execs Added to Cable-Tec Expo Opener

“Nowhere is SCTE•ISBE’s role as the center of gravity for technology implementation and deployment more evident than at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “The insights of Dave Watson and Bruce McClelland—together with those of our Opening General Session speakers and others—will provide our attendees with an enriched understanding of the opportunities that are ahead for our industry and the technologies that are the foundation for business strategies success.”

Cable-Tec Expo is set to run Oct. 17-Oct. 20.

Going deep on a key cable engineering topic, SCTE•ISBE has assembled a half-day seminar dedicated to remote PHY at next month’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver that will feature execs from both cable operators and suppliers.

The seminar, set to run Tuesday, Oct. 17 from 7:30 a.m. – Noon M.T. in Rooms 401/402 of the Colorado Convention Center, will focus on an emerging architecture for HFC networks that aims to boost network performance and capacity and reduce costs by pushing electronics closer to the edge.

RELATED: ‘Remote PHY’ Rising

The seminar, free to all with a Full Conference Pass for Cable-Tec Expo, will cover various aspects of Remote PHY, including rationale and use cases, and update on trials and deployments, and its role in Full Duplex DOCSIS, an annex to DOCSIS 3.1 that will deliver symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds.

RELATED: Cisco Demos Full Duplex DOCSIS

SCTE•ISBE said the seminar will be kicked off by a panel of MSOs, including Jorge Salinger, VP, access architecture of Comcast; John Pederson, CTO of Midco, and Phil Oakley, director, access platform engineering for Liberty Global. Leslie Ellis, president of Ellis Edits and Multichannel News contributor, will moderate.

The seminar will also include presentations from Tom Cloonan, CTO-network solutions, Arris; John Chapman, CTO, cable and fellow, Cisco Systems; Asaf Matatyaou, VP of solutions and product management, cable edge business, Harmonic; David Eckard, CTO, fixed networks, Nokia; Jan Arieson, CTO, Technetix; and Brian Kurtz, cable architect, Intel.

“MSOs are gearing up to take Remote PHY from field trials and small-scale rollouts this year to deployment at scale in 2018,” Chris Bastian, senior vice president, engineering, and CTO of SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “Our Fall Technical Forum seminar has been structured to provide the essential information that operator and technology supplier workforce members require to accelerate industry-wide availability of RPHY.”

SCTE•ISBE said execs from Charter Communications, Comcast and Cox Communications will join the opening general session at next month’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, and participate on a panel focused on operations.

Set for the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 18, the panel -- Operation Bottom Line: On a Mission to Drive Customer Satisfaction and ROI – will feature Debi Picciolo, senior vice president of operations, West Region for Charter; Ed Marchetti, senior vice president, technical operations, customer experience for Comcast; and Patricia Martin, vice president, service assurance for Cox. Leslie Ellis, president of Ellis Edits and Multichannel News contributor, will moderate.

That discussion will complement a general session that will also feature keynote discussion with Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, and closing keynote remarks by Tom Rutledge, chairman and CEO of Charter Communications.

The session will also include show program committee co-chairs, Jim Blackley, executive vice president, engineering and information technology, Charter; and Terry Cordova, vice chairman, business development–network and technology services, Altice USA, and comments from SCTE•ISBE president and CEO Mark Dzuban.

SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo is set for Oct. 17-Oct. 20at the Colorado Convention Center.

“When it comes to fulfilling corporate strategies and driving business results, successful operational implementations are where the rubber meets the road,” Chris Bastian, senior vice president, engineering and CTO for SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “Debi Picciolo, Ed Marchetti and Patricia Martin are among the best-positioned to explain how seamless integration and deployment of technologies by a well-trained workforce can boost subscriber satisfaction and revenue.”

Charter Communications chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge will be a keynoter at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2017, set to take place in this fall in Denver.

Rutledge, who led Charter through its recent merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, will join the show’s opening general session on Wednesday, Oct. 18, and share his “views on the future of cable telecommunications and how network innovation will be a significant contributor to business results,” SCTE•ISBE said.

Charter also has a significant and growing presence in the Denver area. 

RELATED: Charter Expanding in Colorado

Rutledge is also chairman of NCTA–The Internet & Television Association and serves on the boards of CableLabs and C-SPAN.

RELATED: SCTE•ISBE Seeks Nomination for Cable-Tec Expo Awards

“Tom Rutledge’s vision and his ability to seize opportunities have changed the face of cable telecommunications within the past several years,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement. “We’re grateful to him for his commitment to share his expertise and his informed view of the industry at a general session that is shaping up as one of the best in the 34-year history of Cable-Tec Expo.”

“As the industry continues to evolve, success will be measured by our ability to deliver content and new services in ways that attract and retain customers,” added Rutledge. “SCTE•ISBE and the technology community at large will play a significant role in our ability to quickly and efficiently deploy the new products that will help our industry maintain its competitive edge.”

Cable-Tec Expo 2017 is set for Oct. 17-20.

SCTE•ISBE has put out a call for nominations for awards that will be presented at Cable-Tec Expo 2017, set for Oct. 17-20 in Denver.

RELATED: Bill Spies Named SCTE/ISBE ‘Member of the Year’

Awards for this year’s confab include Member of the Year, Excellence in Standards, Excellence in Learning and Development, International Engineering Professional, Innovators, and Rising Leader.

SCTE•ISBE has set a nomination deadline of Friday, July 21. Additional details about the awards program and how to submit nominations are available here.

Details and online forms for the organization’s Hall of Fame program are available here. SCTE•ISBE accepts nominations year-round for the Hall of Fame, but nominations must be also be submitted by July 21 for consideration at this year’s show in Denver.

SCTE•ISBE said it has named Pioneer Communications’ Raul Velasquez, Jr. and Comcast’s Aaron Weimer as Chapter Members of the Year.

Velasquez, treasurer of SCTE•ISBE’s High Plains Chapter, and Weimer, vice president of the Chattahoochee Chapter, both were recognized for their outstanding contributions to their chapters through active participation in programs and other efforts, the organization said.

The tie marks only the third time since the award’s inception that it has been shared between two recipients, SCTE•ISBE said.

A cable service specialist from Ulysses, Kan., Velasquez has been an SCTE•ISBE member for 20 years, and has played a leadership role in the creation of the High Plains Meeting Group and has continued to support High Plains’ diverse member base through the transition into an official SCTE•ISBE chapter.

Weimer, a seven-year SCTE•ISBE member, serves as vice president, engineering & XOC for Comcast’s Central Division.  In his current role, he has been active in ensuring coordination and integration between the Central Division and the Chattahoochee Chapter, including efforts to increase membership, attendance, and communications effectiveness, SCTE•ISBE said.  Weimer has chaired the chapter’s golf tournament and Vendor Days, and he has strengthened the chapter’s foundation by improving the member communications infrastructure and by partnering with Comcast University on chapter events.

“In many ways, SCTE•ISBE’s value to operator, technology partner, and individual members begins at the chapter level,” said Robin Fenton, senior director, chapter support and membership for SCTE•ISBE, in a statement. “Raul Velasquez, Jr. and Aaron Weimer exemplify the commitment and dedication that helps SCTE•ISBE build value for the industry at every level.”

SCTE•ISBE’s other chapter awards for this year were presented last month at the Society’s annual Chapter Leadership Conference (CLC), in Denver.

SCTE•ISBE has created a Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) Working Group within its standards program.

The group, which will strive to create standardize PNM solutions, is also aligned with CableLabs on the aim to provide operational practices, guidelines, and training focused on the effort.

As part of the SCTE•ISBE Standards Program’s Network Operations Subcommittee, the new working group will standardize PNM technology for operations and in the field that will encompass in-home networks (including wireless, optical and in-home wired platforms such as MoCA), consistent guidelines and tools across all networks, and a common framework and architecture designed to accelerate operational use of PNM metrics.

Larry Wolcott, fellow and distinguished engineer for Comcast and PNM expert, has been appointed chair of the group, whose first meeting is set for Tuesday, May 9.

“CableLabs has been developing and testing new PNM technologies and use cases,” Chris Bastian, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE•ISBE, said in a statement.  “Our new PNM Working Group will expedite the introduction of these new PNM solutions that improve employee and customer experiences, as well as the performance, functionality, and economics of all types of MSO access and in-home networks.”

“Preventive maintenance has been a guiding principle for a long time in cable, but consistently enacting a proactive culture requires more than tools and technology,” added Curtis Knittle, vice president of wired technologies for CableLabs. “The creation of the SCTE•ISBE Proactive Network Maintenance (PNM) Working Group brings together the research and tools developed by CableLabs and the operational experience of MSOs to ensure that art and science converge in a way that can translate to useful practices.”

“We’re committed to using tools and technology to enhance the reliability of our network and improve customer experience,” said Wolcott.

SCTE•ISBE said a case study showing how data center cooling techniques can be applied to cable system headends will be featured this week at the Energy 2020 plenary meeting in suburban Philadelphia.

The organization said the case study will discuss several of the “top 12” opportunities for energy savings identified by Energy Star, including technological advances such as using smaller fiber-optic interconnects rather than larger copper interconnects, and opportunities through back-up powering. The case study will also delve into the cost of heat removal from an air handling perspective, as well as by removing heat from the headend to other distributed portions of the plant.

The Energy 2020 meeting and plenary is set for April 18-19, at Comcast’s Chesterbrook, Pa., facility.

RELATED: Energy2020 in 'Show Me the Money' Phase

The meeting stems from the broader Energy 2020 initiative, which targets a reduction in power consumption by 20% (on a per unit basis), a 25% reduction of energy costs (also on a per unit basis), a 20% optimization of the technical and datacenters footprint 20%, and a 10% reduction in grid dependency. Tony Werner, president of technology and product for Comcast Cable, and Balan Nair, EVP and CTO of Liberty Global are Energy 2020’s co-chairs.

RELATED: SCTE/ISBE Names Co-Chairs for Energy 2020

“While the continuing evolution of data center equipment has greatly improved capacity and performance, there has been an accompanying significant increase in power requirements and, therefore, the need to efficiently remove the resulting heat,” David Kozischek, manager, Applications and Market, Corning Optical Communications, who prepared the case study for the Energy 2020 plenary session, said in a statement. “Service providers are facing the reality that a new cooling architecture is required to extend the life of existing facilities and infrastructure, while enabling continued growth.”

The SCTE/ISBE and the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) have forged a partnership that will bring the SCTE/ISBE’s technology training to the workforces of independent operators that are part of the co-op.

Under the agreement, SCTE/ISBE will provide NCTC members with discounted prices for all online training courses, including those that are included in the organization’s CORTEX Expert Development System, which has been tailored for the industry’s technical workforce.

The organizations will also support “promotional opportunities” that highlight the benefits of the training and work together on other events and projects.

“SCTE/ISBE has always been a key provider of training for our industry,” said Rich Fickle, president and CEO of NCTC, in a statement. “We believe that our ability to help technology workforces access SCTE•ISBE learning and development resources can help improve business results for our member companies.”

“Through alliances with organizations within and outside of the industry, we’re leveraging SCTE/ISBE programs to drive real benefits for the cable telecommunications community,” added Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE.  “Our partnership with NCTC will enable positive outcomes for NCTC members via educational resources that have been developed in direct collaboration with the operator community, and that have been proven to improve service quality, increase subscriber satisfaction, and generate value.”

Kathryn Oakes, an operations manager for Cox Communications in Phoenix, has been named the most recent recipient of the Catherine Oakes Memorial Leadership Scholarship for Women.

The SCTE Foundation created the scholarship in 2013 to honor Catherine Oakes, the long-time SCTE executive who died suddenly on Nov. 16, 2013. 

RELATED: SCTE IDs First Catherine Oakes Scholarship Recipient

As the most recent scholarship honoree, Kathryn Oakes, who is no relation to the award’s namesake, was been awarded a grant of $3,500 to attend the WICT 2017 Rising Leaders Program for industry professionals at the manager or director level who have demonstrated their potential and their desire for leadership and career advancement.

Kathryn Oakes joined Cox as a residential services supervisor in 2003 and has served as an operations manager for the company’s business services unit for the past nine years.  Oakes leads a team of more than 30 employees and is a multiple winner of Cox’s Circle of Excellence Award.  An active member of WICT for the past eight years, she served two years as programming chair of WICT’s Southwest Chapter and currently is chapter president.  She received the Lucille Larkin Fellowship Award in 2014 for her contributions to the industry.

“Kathy holds her team accountable to metrics that allow us to exceed our customers’ expectations,” wrote Gayle Porterfield, director of operations for Cox Business Arizona, in a recommendation letter.  “She is respected among her peers and often volunteers to take on additional projects and assignments.  She’s implemented several process improvements that have saved our company thousands of dollars while simultaneously improving efficiencies. She holds her team and herself to the highest standards.”

“I enjoy learning about the technical aspect of our business,” said Oakes in her application.  “Attending the Rising Leaders Program will provide me new tools in my tool belt.  Winning this scholarship will help me to improve upon my technical knowledge of the telecom industry. Combining this essential knowledge with my current skill set will allow me to take the next step in my career.”

Kathryn Oakes’ scholarship application was among the submissions that were reviewed by past recipients of the Women in Technology Award, which is presented annually by the SCTE/ISBE, Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), and Cablefax.

The SCTE/ISBE and the Multimedia over Coax Alliance have issued a “standards operational practice” aimed at ensuring interoperability between MoCA 2.0 and DOCSIS 3.1, which can both live in frequencies above 1 GHz.

They said the work, under the label of SCTE 235 (Operational Practice for the Coexistence of DOCSIS 3.1 Signals and MoCA Signals in the Home Environment), addresses the need to prevent degradation of failure of signals due to shared spectrum above 1 GHz.

The issue arises as MSOs look to use RF spectrum above 1.2 GHz for downstream DOCSIS 3.1 capacity, creating shared frequency zones and setting up potential conflicts with MoCA and D3.1 in the 1125-1675 MHz range.

Cable operators and other types of MVPDs have used MoCA for whole-home DVRs and other in-home content distribution applications. DOCSIS 3.1 is a next-gen access spec for HFC networks that enables multi-gigabit speeds.

SCTE 235, they said, explains the need for sufficient isolation” and suggests proper location and required performance of filters to prevent MoCA signals from one residence to leak over to a  nearby residence, and to prevent overload of DOCSIS receivers and MoCA receivers.

Among the key recommendations of SCTE 235 is the use of non-overlapping channels. They said the calculations are valid for DOCSIS 3.1 and for MoCA 1.1 and 2.0 single channel operation.

The operational practice is based on a technical study by MoCA in cooperation with CableLabs, and created by a Special Working Group on HFC Readiness for DOCSIS 3.1 within the Network Operations Subcommittee (NOS) of the ANSI-accredited SCTE/ISBE Standards Program.  It was the result of a multi-year effort.

Per the SCTE 235 documentation (PDF), areas identified for further investigation include an analysis of MoCA 2.5 signals, recommendations for filters in “mid-split” systems (when the upstream ceiling is raised to 85 MHz), and the coexistence of DOCSIS 3.1 technology with other home networking technologies such as G.hn and HomePlug, among others.

“DOCSIS 3.1 and MoCA are important enabling technologies that support more powerful, flexible services,” Rob Thompson, director, network architecture for Comcast Cable, MoCA Board member, and chair of the Technical Work Group at MoCA, said in a statement.  “SCTE 235 is designed to create home environments in which both technologies can perform as intended to meet customer demand.”

SCTE/ISBE and NCTA – The Internet & Television Association –have extended the deadline for tech paper submissions for this fall’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver to Monday, March. 6.

The papers ideas, for the NCTA Fall Technical Forum at the SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, are due that day by 5 p.m. ET, and can be submitted here.

New tracks for 2017 include evolved network, cloud and virtualization, security and authentication,  business services, customer journey, and future services and technologies.

RELATED: SCTE/ISBE Teams With NCTA on Tech Paper Chase

The organizations said they will announce submission status for selection on April 14. For those who are selected, electronic versions of technical papers and associated PowerPoint presentations are required to be developed on the Expo templates by July 17.

Papers will be presented during the Tuesday through Friday workshops at SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, set for Oct. 17-20 in Denver.

The SCTE/ISBE and the NCTA – The Internet & Television Association – said they are working together to integrate the NCTA Technical Papers into the Cable-Tec Expo, which is set to run Oct. 17-20 in Denver.

They said the collaboration, which comes after the decision last fall to sunset the NCTA-run INTX show (formerly known as The Cable  Show), will combine the elements of the Cable-Tec Expo papers and the NCTA Technical Papers within the Fall Technical Forum of those organizations, and continue with a relationship that had existed during the Spring Technical Forum that had been held at the INTX confab.

RELATED: NCTA 'Sunsetting' INTX

The SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2017 Program Committee, co-chaired by Jim Blackley, EVP of engineering and information technology for Charter Communications, and Terry Cordova, EVP and CTO of Altice USA, will review abstracts for inclusion in this year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver.

The organizations have set a submission deadline for written abstracts of March 1, 2017, and have posted details about the tech paper program here (PDF).

The committee is seeking technical content in key areas that include: Future Services and Technologies; Evolved Network—Wireline and Wireless; Cloud and Virtualization; Security and Authentication; Business Services; and Customer Journey.

“Our industry is at an inflection point in which technological advances and business needs are converging to pave the way for new opportunities,” Chris Bastian, SVP and CTO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “We’re delighted to be able to leverage our close relationships with NCTA and CableLabs to make the valuable insights of broadband telecommunications’ most innovative minds available to full conference attendees.”

“SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo historically has driven learning and development across every level of the cable workforce,” added Dr. William Check, SVP and CTO of NCTA.  “The integration of the NCTA and SCTE/ISBE papers will bring to Expo an added dimension by harnessing the focus on new thinking that was a mainstay of our highly regarded Spring Technical Forum partnership.”

“Innovation is the lifeblood of our industry,” said Ralph Brown, CTO for CableLabs.  “We look forward to continuing our close work with SCTE/ISBE and NCTA to assure the alignment of our organizations and maximize the impact of new technologies as they come to market.”

SCTE/ISBE said Tony Werner, president of technology and product for Comcast Cable, will co-chair the organization's Energy 2020 program together with Balan Nair, executive vice president and CTO of Liberty Global.

Nair previously co-chaired the group with John Schanz, the former EVP and chief network officer at Comcast who has since moved into an advisory role at Atairos, the investment vehicle set up by former Comcast vice chairman and CFO Michael Angelakis.

Energy2020 in 'Show Me the Money' Phase

As the new co-chairs of Energy 2020, Werner and Nair will work together with Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, as members of the Steering Committee for the program. Mark Hess, senior vice president, business and industry affairs for Comcast, will serve as program technical advisor.

Energy 2020’s is targeting  a reduction in power consumption by 20% (on a per unit basis), a 25% reduction of energy costs (also on a per unit basis), a 20% optimization of the technical and datacenters footprint 20%, and a 10% reduction in grid dependency.

SCTE/ISBE also announced that Simpson Cumba, vice president, data center services for Comcast Cable, and Sam Khola, director, sustainability for Liberty Global, will serve as chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the Energy Management Subcommittee (EMS) within the SCTE/ISBE Standards Program.  That subcommittee also includes representatives of Alpha Technologies, Arris, Cisco Systems, CommScope, CableLabs, Hitachi Consulting, and Metrocast, as well as other operators and technology partners.

RELATED: SCTE Plugs Standards Into ‘Energy 2020’ Program

“One of the most important drivers of Energy 2020’s success has been the willingness of the MSO community to commit the time of some of their most talented executives to the program,” Dzuban said in a statement.  “I’m particularly grateful for the way leading technology executives—including Tony Werner, Balan Nair, and others—have pledged their wholehearted support for the program.”

SCTE/ISBE and Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth said Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications, will be a featured speaker during an annual education/leadership event  slated to take place May 7-12 on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, N.H.

Entering its seventh year, the SCTE/ISBE Leadership Institute at Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth program is aimed at senior directors, vice presidents, senior and executive vice presidents and C-level executives from across the cable industry. The program’s curriculum offers opportunities for intensive learning and peer interaction for executives representing cable system operators, vendors, industry associations and other organizations, they said.

Esser will share insights as part of a “fireside chat” with SCTE/ISBE-Tuck attendees, and will also field questions from program participants.

“Under Pat Esser, Cox Communications has been widely recognized for its technology excellence, its consumer service and its commitment to diversity and inclusion,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, in a statement. “We’re extremely grateful to Pat for his willingness to share the philosophy behind the company’s success with the next generation of cable industry leaders.”

Other guest lecturers at SCTE/ISBE-Tuck have included Michael Powell, president and CEO of NCTA—The Internet & Television Association; Neil Smit, president and CEO of Comcast Cable; Michael Angelakis, former vice chairman and CFO of Comcast; Balan Nair, executive vice president and CTO of Liberty Global; Bob Stanzione, executive chairman and chairman of the board of Arris; Phil McKinney, president and CEO of CableLabs; and Jerry Kent , the former chairman and CEO of Suddenlink (now part of Altice USA). The late Glenn Britt, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable, began the program’s tradition of industry guest lecturers in 2011. 

The SCTE/ISBE announced late last week that Lindsay Johnston has left the organization after her position, SVP and general counsel, was eliminated at the end of 2016.

SCTE/ISBE said it dropped the position to “accommodate [the] needs of the business for 2017.”

Johnston joined SCTE in 2014 as SVP of operations from Comcast, taking over a role that was last filled by Cathy Oakes, the long-time SCTE executive who died in November 2013. Johnston headed up learning and development, oversaw the organization’s Corporate Alliance Partners program, legal oversight, and human resources.

Johnston’s operational duties are being distributed across the organization, and her legal duties will be outsourced.

RELATED: SCTE Taps Lindsay Johnston To Head Up Ops

SCTE/ISBE said that leadership membership grew from 14,000 to 28,000 and the operators’ corporate alliance program also more than doubled under her leadership.

“Lindsay Johnston’s skills, insights and commitment over the past several years have been instrumental in the success of programs that have defined SCTE/ISBE, including our CAP program and the development of our CORTEX Expert Development System,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of  SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “We are very appreciative of all of her hard work on behalf of the industry, and offer our best wishes for her continued success in the future. She will be missed.”

“SCTE/ISBE holds a unique position that is central to the success of the cable telecommunications ecosystem,” added Johnston. “It has been a privilege to spearhead initiatives that are vital to the future of our industry.  I look forward to continuing my association with the cable community in general, as I move to the next phase of my career.”

SCTE/ISBE said it has named cable industry vet Matt Aden to the post of VP, sales and sales operations, where he’ll spearhead revenue opportunities for Society members.

Among his tasks, Aden will head up a team that aims to “build value” for the organization’s Corporate Alliance Partner (CAP) and individual members by creating and delivering business relationships that utilize SCTE/ISBE’s full portfolio of resources, including learning and development, industry standards leadership, membership activities, and annual events such as the Cable-Tec Expo and Chapter Leadership Conference (CLC).

RELATED: SCTE Launches ‘Corporate Alliance Program’

During his career, Aden spent 21 years with General Instrument and Motorola (Motorola acquired GI in 2000),  and served in senior sales roles at companies such as Casa Systems, Terayon Communications Systems (acquired by Motorola in 2007), Harmonic and Concurrent Computer.  Aden, a Cable TV Pioneer, holds a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Nebraska.

“Ensuring availability of resources that can support new programs is fundamental to SCTE/ISBE’s mission,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “Matt Aden’s industry expertise, his organizational skills and his proven ability to forge successful business relationships will expedite creation of a team dedicated to initiating and sustaining opportunities that meet the needs of our members and our corporate partners.”

The SCTE Foundation said it has launched a campaign that will seek to build a fund of $10 million or more that can be applied to sustain educational, training, and diversity initiatives for the cable telecommunications workforce.

The campaign, called #BuildingExperts, is tasked with generating more than $7 million in new donations over the next three years to complement the $2.6 million-plus that’s currently on hand.

“As an educational resource for current and future technical professionals, the SCTE Foundation seeks to play an important role in deepening and diversifying our industry’s talent pipeline,” said Mark Hess, senior vice president, business and industry affairs for Comcast and president/chairman of the SCTE Foundation, in a statement.  “The ‘#BuildingExperts’ campaign is designed to ensure continuous, dedicated support for current and new grants and scholarships that will help improve the skills of our workforce and attract bright new talent to the industry.”

Advance/Newhouse’s Nomi Bergman and Cisco Systems’s Yvette Kanouff are spearheading the campaign to secure large corporate and individual donors; Broadband Advisors Group’s Keith Hayes is marshaling grassroots contributions.

Pledges made during a kickoff event at SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2016 in Philadelphia, included $50,000 each from Arris and Huawei, as well as individual pledges from a individual execs, including Hess, Hayes, Shaw Communications’ Jay Mehr, and CommScope’s Jim Hughes, among others.

SCTE/ISBE said corporate or individual donations of $10,000 or more can be made by contacting JoAnn Pushcarovich at jPushcarovich@scte.org.  Donations under $10,000 can be made via this Web site.

From July through October of this year, the Foundation distributed more than $12,000 in individual grants and awarded the Lansdale Catholic (Pa.) Cyber Crusaders with the Foundation’s initial FIRST grant, SCTE/ISBE said. The SCTE Foundation was established in 2005. 

SCTE/ISBE and the NAFA Fleet Management Association have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will look to increase energy efficiency in vehicle fleets of cable system operators and NAFA members.

Under the MOU, they’ll  promote professional development and standardization of operational practices in the fleet management field, and will collaborate on the development of new training and benchmarking material that can identify and remedy inefficient practices.

SCTE/ISBE said the establishment of more efficient fleet practices tied into the goals of its Energy 2020 program, which is developing a new operational practice called SCTE 225 2015: Cable Operator Fleet Maintenance and Vehicle Selection Operational Practice.

RELATED: Cable-Tec Expo: Energy2020 in 'Show Me the Money' Phase

“Our two associations share a common vision of reducing energy consumption in our members’ vast fleets of vehicles,” said Phil Russo, CEO of NAFA, in a statement. “This MOU will enable us to provide real benefit to the cable industry and the communities it serves by paving the way for the institution of procedures and our Sustainable Fleet Accreditation Program that can reduce fuel consumption, costs and emissions.” 

“Clearly, no organization has as much experience as NAFA when it comes to managing fleet,” added Chris Bastian, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE/ISBE. “By collaborating more closely, we can expand the impact of our current inventories of training and best practices and can draw on each other’s experiences to create new opportunities to achieve our energy-efficiency targets.”

Cable operators aren’t tossing out good HFC networks, but they are deploying fiber-only networks at in increasing rates in greenfields and other certain situations.

To get a fix on this trend, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), have expanded their boot camp training program with one targeted to fiber networks deployment.

That new program, called the Fiber To The x (FTTx) Boot Camp, adds fiber passive optical network (PON) training, including installation, architecture, deployment and troubleshooting for GPON, EPON as well as RF over Glass (RFoG), a standard that enables MSOs to deliver their traditional services via RF on fiber while preserving their traditional backoffice and provisioning systems.

SCTE/ISBE, which recently launched a Boot Camp focused on DOCSIS 3.1, said the new FTTx-focused program will focus on PON architectures and offer comparisons to HFC, the disadvantages and advantages of various designs, and best practices for deploying and supporting FTTx.

“Time Warner Cable approached SCTE/ISBE to develop a program that could provide the industry with efficient training on FTTx technology, the advanced tools used to install and troubleshoot FTTx, and the creative approaches to problem-solving that the industry needs to realize the benefits of fiber deployments,” said Steve Harris, senior director, advanced technologies and instruction, learning and development, SCTE/ISBE. “We worked with Kevin Noll and the Time Warner Cable team to create an FTTx Boot Camp that combines industry technical expertise and SCTE/ISBE’s learning systems.  Our goal is to foster seamless fiber deployments for cable system operators as well as new opportunities for career advancement for the industry’s technical workforce.”

“Bringing fiber all the way to the customer premises increasingly is gaining traction as an option to expedite advanced services and to increase reliability of the network,” added Chris Bastian, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE/ISBE.  “SCTE/ISBE is working closely with our partners to make sure that current and next-generation workforces have the tools and talents that will allow operators to capture the ROI benefits that can accompany FTTx.”

SCTE/ISBE said cable organizations can contact Steve Harris at sharris@scte.org to schedule the two-day FTTx Boot Camp at a location of their choice. SCTE/ISBE also will host the FTTx Boot Camp Sunday through Monday, Sept. 25–26 in Philadelphia, immediately prior to the start of Cable-Tec Expo 2016.