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.”

Get complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2016.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), have appointed Tom Adams, EVP, field operations at Charter Communications, to its board of directors.

Adams, a 30-year industry vet, will officially be seated on the board at the SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo meeting on Monday, Sept. 26.

At Charter, Adams directs Charter’s field operations for 25 million customers across 41 states. Prior to joining Charter in 2012, he spent 17 years with Time Warner Cable, which was acquired by Charter earlier this year, serving in roles such as regional vice president of operations for Wisconsin, and regional VP of operations/division president for a team of about 2,000 employees serving more than 700,000 customers in the Raleigh, Wilmington, and Fayetteville, N.C. Prior to TWC, he was VP of new business at NewChannels Corporation.

He earned a bachelor of science in engineering from Florida International University. 

The Society said Adams will help guide development of new programs aimed at increasing workforce skills, driving adoption of new technologies, and improving operators’ bottom lines. 

“Tom Adams’ background and his commitment to our industry are perfect fits for the SCTE/ISBE Board of Directors,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “We’re fortunate to be able to draw on Tom’s rich base of knowledge and look forward to his insights into how we can create new opportunities to benefit SCTE/ISBE members and the industry at large.”

“With the industry’s rapid deployment of advanced services and new technologies, our operational needs are changing and evolving faster than ever,” added Adams. “I look forward to working with the SCTE/ISBE Board to help guide development of the educational and applied science tools that can both assist the skilled cable technicians in the field and improve the quality and efficiency of service delivery as this industry continues to meet the growing needs of its customers.”

The deployment of new technologies and how MSOs are dealing with competition from OTT, telcos and satellite rivals will be given a global twist at next month’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Philadelphia.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and its global division, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), said a session set for the morning of Thursday, Sept. 29  will feature the following panel:

-Steve McCaffery (moderator), managing director, Arris International;

-Chris Bastian, Senior Vice President and CTO, SCTE/ISBE;

-Hernan Benavides, Vice President, Engineering, Liberty Global Latin America and Caribbean (LiLAC); and,

- Mark Yamaguchi, President, Synclayer, and President, Japan Cable TV Engineering Association (JCTEA).

The Arris-sponsored SCTE/ISBE International Attendee Breakfast  is set to start at 7:30 a.m. ET in Room 120-C of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, with the one-hour panel session set to start at 8 a.m. will take place from 8 to 9 a.m. 

The panel is expected to discuss a range of topics, including the deployment of new technologies, competition, WiFi strategies, future network expansion in support of services such as the Internet of Things and virtual reality, how to prioritize capital expenditures for upgrades, and the shift beyond HD video quality.

Get complete coverage of Cable-Tec Expo 2016.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global division, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), have set the general session lineup for Cable-Tec Expo 2016, set to take place next month in Philadelphia.

On tap to for opening remarks for a two-hour session scheduled to start September 27 at 8:30 a.m. ET is Tony Werner, president, technology and product for Comcast Cable and chairman of the SCTE/ISBE board of directors, followed by a keynote from Marcus Weldon, CTO of Nokia and president of Nokia Labs.

That will be followed by a panel featuring Bob Stanzione, executive chairman and chairman of the board at Arris; Jim Blackley, executive VP, engineering and IT at Charter Communications; Balan Nair, EVP and CTO of Liberty Global; and Zoran Stakic, EVP and CTO of Shaw Communications.

SCTE/ISBE said topics that will be addressed during the session will span how innovation in workforce education and technology are working together for the industry, the “Future X Network” and its implications for MSOs and their suppliers, and how technological and business developments are shaping the future of the telecommunications industry.

Operating under the theme, “Innovation Meets Here,” Cable-Tec Expo 2016 is slated for September 26-29 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event will also feature three two-day “Boot Camps” – one on DOCSIS 3.1, one on FTTx, and one on Wireless Broadband – to be held on Sunday, Sept. 25 and Monday, Sept. 26.

“The organizational and technological changes that have swept the industry are creating new opportunities for cable operators and their technology partners,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “The opening general session of SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2016 has been designed to enable attendees to hear from—and engage directly with—executives who are driving our industry into the future.”

The SCTE Foundation said it is accepting applications for the Catherine Oakes Memorial Leadership Scholarship for Women, which was created to honor the former SCTE SVP of operations who died in November 2013 and is awarded annually to provide educational opportunities for women “who aspire to become leaders in cable engineering or operations.”

The SCTE Foundation said it will award the grant of $3,500 to be used toward registration in an industry leadership development or executive education program, such as the SCTE/ISBE Leadership Institute at Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth or the SCTE/ISBE Leadership Institute at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

Women applying for the scholarship must be members of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers or its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE).  The application deadline is Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016.

Applications will be reviewed by past recipients of the Women in Technology Award. More detail about the program can be found here.

The inaugural recipient was Jeanie Warfield, product manager, video solutions for Time Warner Cable Business Class.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the Intentional Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), has tapped author and educator Syd Finkelstein to keynote the Cable-Tec Expo’s annual awards luncheon, set for Wednesday, Sept. 28 in Philadelphia.

SCTE/ISBE said Finkelstein, whose classes are part of the organizations’ Leadership Institute at Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth program, will address themes from his 20 books, including Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent.

Finkelstein’s remarks at the noon ET luncheon will follow three awards for SCTE/ISBE leadership: the Member of the Year Award, the Women in Technology Award, and the Hall of Fame induction.

“The expertise shared by our SCTE/ISBE-Tuck faculty at the Awards Luncheon each year speaks to issues that are key to the future of our industry,” Lindsay Johnston, senior vice president, operations for SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “Like Marshall Goldsmith and Ron Adner in recent years, Syd Finkelstein’s insights into the characteristics and thought processes that make business leaders successful will be of value to our entire luncheon audience.”

Cable-Tec Expo 2016 is set for September 26-29 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE) have teed up more almost three dozen workshops for Cable-Tec Expo 2016, set for Sept. 26-29 in Philadelphia.

Workshop topics will span DOCSIS 3.1, cable’s new multi-gigabit platform for HFC network, 4K/Ultra HD, Big Data, machine learning, software defined Networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV, virtual reality, as well as the SCTE/ISBE Energy 2020 program.

Among the engineering leaders on tap for the sessions include John Ulm of Arris, John Chapman of Cisco Systems, Rob Howald  of Comcast, and Jeff Finkelstein of Cox Communications.

The show’s agenda has been programmed by the SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2016 Program Committee, chaired by John Schanz, executive vice president and chief network officer of Comcast Cable.

“John Schanz’s vision has played a key role in bringing transformative experiences to cable subscribers,” Chris Bastian, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE/ISBE, said in a statement. “His leadership and the hard work of the entire program committee have resulted in an agenda that offers real insight into the future of our industry and what it will take for us to achieve success.”

Marcus Weldon, CTO of Nokia and president of Nokia Bell Labs, will keynote Cable-Tec Expo 2016 the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 27, and will be part of the show’s opening general session at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. 

Marcus Weldon, CTO of Nokia and president of Nokia Bell Labs, is on tap to keynote Cable-Tec Expo 2016 when the annual event returns to Philadelphia, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), announced Tuesday.

Weldon’s keynote is set for Tuesday, Sept. 27, and will be part of the show’s opening general session at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which is scheduled to get underway at 8:30 a.m. ET.

SCTE said Weldon will share insights into the future of communications networks, including observations from his recent book The Future X Network: A Bell Labs Perspective.

“Marcus Weldon is a visionary whose unique perspective on the power and evolution of networks transcends any specific company or technology,” John Schanz, executive vice president and chief network officer of Comcast Cable and chairman of the SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2016 Program Committee, said in a statement. “His views on IP migration, services, the opportunities for wireless networks and the impact of virtualization and the cloud are fascinating and will have broad application for the SCTE/ISBE Expo audience.”

“Telecommunications providers worldwide face a new technological revolution defined by the digitization and ubiquitous connectivity,” added Weldon. “Our challenge is to create ‘cloud integrated networks’ that will help us achieve the 100-fold or more improvement in network scale, flexibility, programmability and cost per bit that the revolution will require.”

Weldon holds a B.S in Chemistry and Computer Science from King’s College, London, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Harvard University. In 1995, he joined the Physics Division at AT&T Bell Labs as a post-doctoral researcher, before becoming a Member of Technical Staff in the Optical Materials Division.

Cable-Tec Expo week begins with three two-day Boot Camps -- on DOCSIS 3.1, FTTx and Wireless -- on Sunday, Sept. 25 and Monday, Sept. 26. The show’s conference sessions, exhibits and other activities are set for September 27-29.

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. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), said they are expanding the resource base for the cable industry’s energy management activities by joining Villanova University’s RISE Forum. 

RISE (Resilient Innovation through Sustainable Engineering) is dedicated to advancing the sustainable enterprise through engineering and is the industry consortium of the College of Engineering’s graduate program in Sustainable Engineering.

SCTE/ISBE said the mission of RISE aligns with the goals of Energy 2020, a cable industry initiative that has identified targets that include a 20% reduction of power consumption on a unit basis, a 25% reduction in energy costs on a unit basis, a 10% reduction of grid dependency and an optimization of technical facility and data center footprints by 20%. 

Through RISE, SCTE/ISBE and members of the Energy 2020 program will work together with faculty and graduate students from Villanova’s graduate program in Sustainable Engineering. 

They said a  team of graduate students from Villanova is making a formal presentation today (May 3) at an SCTE/ISBE Energy 2020 Plenary Session at Time Warner Cable in Herndon, Va., in which it will lay out the first phase of their benchmarking analysis. 

“Energy 2020 is an enormous effort that requires changes in technology and institutional thinking across the entire cable telecommunications industry,” said Chris Bastian, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE/ISBE, in a statement. “The RISE program’s head start in sustainable engineering and the collective knowledge of the RISE Forum membership will provide us with an entirely new set of resources that can help us drive energy planning and achieve our goals on schedule.”

“As the leading applied-science organization in the cable telecommunications industry, SCTE/ISBE is driving thought leadership for some of the largest communications and entertainment companies in the world,” added Keith Argue, Villanova College of Engineering Assistant Dean of External Relations. “Our partnership with SCTE/ISBE provides both the College and the University relationship-building opportunities with an entire sector of the economy that we were not exposed to previously.”

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its international arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), said they are tapping the open source community to accelerate adoption of the organization’s Adaptive Power Systems Interface Specification (APSIS), which is designed to reduce power consumption in next-gen network equipment.

Under the plan, SCTE/ISBE will work with the OpenDaylight open source community to support the APSIS standard (SCTE 216 2015) by developing code based on the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Energy Management framework.

SCTE/ISBE said they have made an open call for code contributors.

Frank Sandoval, senior director, software engineering, Comcast VIPER Platform Analytics and chair of the APSIS working group within the SCTE/ISBE Standards Program’s Energy Management Subcommittee, and Derek DiGiacomo, senior director, information systems and energy management for SCTE/ISBE, will serve as committers of the Energy Management plug-in project within OpenDaylight.

APSIS is one of more than a dozen standards linked to SCTE Energy 2020, an initiative that has identified targets that include a 20% reduction of power consumption on a unit basis, a 25% reduction in energy costs on a unit basis, a 10% reduction of grid dependency and an optimization of technical facility and data center footprints by 20%. 

Last year, Arris, WES and Concurrent Thinking Ltd. showed proof of concepts of new adaptive power technologies.

“Aligning power consumption with the ebbs and flows of service use can drive down energy use and improve service delivery,” said Sandoval, in a statement. “APSIS enables operators to use the principles of Software Defined Networking and Network Functions Virtualization to dramatically reduce overall power usage while improving reliability and quality of service. This is not only good for the environment, but it also helps lower costs.”

“Achieving our Energy 2020 goal of cost avoidance of $1 billion by the end of the decade requires our industry to mobilize all available technology resources,” added Dave Fellows, co-founder and CTO of Layer3 TV and chief scientist of the Energy 2020 program.  “Partnering with the OpenDaylight community allows us to dramatically expand the quantity and quality of resources that can be devoted to the creation of APSIS-compliant products.”

http://www.multichannel.com/news/technology/dave-fellows-joins-scte-energy-2020-team/390315

Zenita Henderson, a cable industry vet and member of the Cable Television Pioneers, has been named director, marketing operations and business development at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE).

Henderson joins SCTE/ISBE after nearly three decades in various key roles with General Instrument, Motorola and Arris.

 “SCTE/ISBE is at an inflection point: leveraging new ideas and advanced engineering concepts to position the industry for the next decade or more,” said Terry Maloney, vice president, marketing and business development for SCTE/ISBE, in a statement. “Zenita Henderson’s ability to direct campaigns across audience segments, her skills in managing sponsor relationships, media, and social media, and her access to decision-makers at every level will play essential roles in our ability to increase the impact of our future marketing and business development activities.”

“With the return of SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo® to Philadelphia this fall, forward-looking programs like Energy 2020 and industry-leading training and certification opportunities for DOCSIS® 3.1, FTTx, Wireless and other technologies, SCTE/ISBE is the pivot for technology education and thought leadership in cable and beyond,” added Henderson.  “I am very excited to be working with the SCTE/ISBE team to create and execute programs that showcase the next-generation thinking and value that SCTE/ISBE brings to service providers, technology partners and individual members.”

Henderson most recently served as senior marketing manager for Arris.  She also serves as vice president of the Philadelphia Chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), and on the executive committee of One Day Immersion in TV, Cable & Digital Entertainment, a program that connects media leaders with high-potential college students and recent college graduates for discussion of career paths within the industry. 

Henderson was inducted into the Cable Television Pioneers in 2014.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and ANGA COM said they have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that forges a link between their respective flagship events and other promotional ties between their respective organizations.  

The MOU, which also includes the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), which is SCTE’s global brand, designates the ANGA COM Exhibition and Congress and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo as “international partners” while also establishing a way for the orgs to work more closely to build “global visibility for technical sessions and training activities” that are conducted at those events.

Other elements of the MOU include the organization of co-branded technical sessions, growing “International Breakfasts” at both events aimed at knowledge sharing and business development, and the co-promotion of ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo.

ANGA COM 2016 is set for June 7-9 at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany; SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2016 is scheduled for Sept. 26-29 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

“ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE are cornerstones for much of the thought leadership and workforce education that underpin our industry’s success,” said Bill Warga, vice president, technology for Liberty Global, and vice chairman of the SCTE/ISBE board of directors, in a statement. “By working together to plan and execute key international elements of ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, they can increase alignment between the objectives of both events and the needs of cable and broadband telecommunications.”

“Cable operators throughout the world are seeking optimal solutions in key areas such as energy management and DOCSIS 3.1 training,” added Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE.  “ANGA COM and SCTE/ISBE are uniquely positioned to expand the availability of technical information to the international cable community.”

“The globalization of the broadband industry has created a growing need for an exchange of technical skills across borders,” said Dr. Peter Charissé, managing director of ANGA COM. “SCTE/ISBE with its high expertise is the perfect transatlantic partner for us. We highly appreciate the exchange of know-how, topics and speakers, as this will surely make our events more international than ever.” 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), the SCTE Foundation, and Comcast have teamed with and Georgia Tech Professional Education (GTPE) on a pilot training program designed to bring cable telecommunications career opportunities to transitioning members of the armed forces.

They said Comcast has entered into a pilot training partnership with GTPE’s Veterans Education Training and Transition (VET2) program to recruit and train two initial groups of up to 20 participants each for cable telecommunications engineering careers.

The program, they said, is utilizing the training resources of SCTE and its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE).  Training will be funded by a grant from the SCTE Foundation.

The seven-month process includes student selection and pre-certification, self-paced SCTE/ISBE online training, and an internship that combines academics and practical experience. Up to 40 participants with multiple years of military experience in communications or IT-related areas will be selected.

Initial student screening and pre-certification are being conducted by Georgia Tech Professional Education for service members residing in close proximity to Fort Gordon, Fort Stewart and Warner Robins Air Force Base. Beginning in Q2 2016, students in the first class will complete SCTE/ISBE online training and certification for one of two tracks:  Field Technician, which requires attainment of SCTE/ISBE Broadband Premises Installer (BPI) certification, or Headend Technician, which requires attainment of SCTE/ISBE Broadband TelecomCenter Specialist (BTCS) certification. 

Launched in 2013, VET2 maintains a 100% job offer rate for service members completing the program, they said.

Comcast is using the program to identify, engage and offer training and internship opportunities to high-potential transitioning service members, enabling new career paths for program participants and a source of highly trained individuals for the cable workforce.

“We are thrilled to partner with these respected organizations to connect with military talent early in the transition process,” said Carol Eggert, vice president, military and veteran affairs for Comcast and Brigadier General (R), U.S. Army.  “These highly motivated, talented participants will have the chance to explore exciting career paths in our industry, and we look forward to the opportunity to have them join our team.”

“Georgia Tech has a 130-year history supporting veterans in our community,” added Dr. James Wilburn, director of military academic programs at Georgia Tech Professional Education. “This program brings together a major employer that shares our commitment to veterans, industry-leading technical and workforce education, and the funding needed to streamline that process for participants.”

“Our military veterans represent a deep pool of highly skilled, well-trained talent that would be a tremendous asset to cable,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE.  “Our hat is off to Comcast for working with Georgia Tech Professional Education, the SCTE Foundation and SCTE/ISBE to show how the vast resources of our industry and its training partners can help these dedicated men and women transition their military training to new civilian careers.”

“As consumers depend increasingly on technology for all of their entertainment and communications needs, our need for world-class technical skills is growing,” said Mark Hess, president of the SCTE Foundation and senior vice president, business and industry affairs for Comcast Cable.  “The SCTE Foundation’s support for VET2 will help our industry meet that need while at the same time helping our military men and women to make the transition to civilian careers.”

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said an energy-savings initiative deployed at its headquarters in Exton, Pa., has reduced grid dependency by more than 200,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) and shaved down grid energy costs by more than $18,000.

Using a combo of solar panels, energy-efficient lighting fixtures and fuel cell technologies, SCTE said the deployment demonstrates how MSOs and their suppliers can achieve the key objectives of the its Energy 2020 program.

SCTE said it has generated more than 78,000 kWh of power through its rooftop-mounted solar array, cut grid consumption by more than 100,000 kWh via the replacement of 150 T-12 fluorescent fixtures with LED four-inch linear tubes, and trimmed grid consumption by approximately 25,000 kWh by transitioning exterior lighting from 250-watt high-pressure sodium bulbs to 28-watt LED fixtures.

As outlined in 2014, the overarching goals of Energy 2020 are to reduce energy costs by 25% on a unit basis; cut power consumption by 20% on a unit basis; reduce grid dependency by 10%;  and to optimize technical facilities by 20%.

“A central tenet of the Energy 2020 program is the material impact that the program can have for operators and the communities they serve,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE and its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE). “Our initial work shows how even relatively small deployments can dramatically reduce consumption, as well as its associated costs, for the industry.”

“The energy management solutions we’ve deployed at SCTE/ISBE are some of the same elements of the industry’s Energy 2020 strategy,” added Derek DiGiacomo, senior director, information systems and energy management of SCTE/ISBE.  “By working closely with Alpha Technologies, CommScope and other leading vendors on these projects, we have been able to create a base of knowledge which we can share with others in the industry.”

Two engineering organizations – one based in the U.S. and one based in the U.K. – that both use the “SCTE” initialism and/or moniker have signed a memorandum of understanding  that, they claim, aims to address brand confusion between them.

Those orgs -- the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTEUS) and the Society for Broadband Professionals (SCTEUK) – have exactly not been the best of friends over the years.

They didn’t release all of the terms of the MOU and specifically how they intend to reduce brand confusion, but said it “lays the foundation for the development of a longer-term relationship between the industry’s two leading technical education organizations and their affiliated brands.”

Notably, the SCTE (the U.S.-based organization) operates globally under a different brand – the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE). It introduced ISBE as a brand in September 2014, and at the time said it was to “eliminate existing brand confusion,” an apparent reference to the U.K.-based org that was founded in 1945.

“Our two societies share a common goal of improving engineering standards and skills throughout our industry,” said Michael Thornton, president, Society for Broadband Professionals, in a statement. “Eliminating confusion between our brands is the first step towards global collaboration that can help the industry to maintain – and even increase – its competitive edge.”

“The rapid advance of technology is spawning the availability of new products and services that are changing the face of communication,” added Mark Dzuban, president and CEO, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers.  “The intent of our two organizations is to ensure that cable and broadband operators and technology partners have access to the training resources they need to make the most of those opportunities.”

Daniel Howard, a cable industry vet and the former  CTO of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), has joined Hitachi Consulting in a role in which he plans to help MSOs with engineering and IT strategies spanning energy management, the rollout of DOCSIS 3.1 and cable’s growing WiFi and mobile initiatives.

Howard joins Hitachi Consulting after serving as the SCTE’s first Fellow, focusing on initiatives such as wireless, cybersecurity, DOCSIS 3.1, and the SCTE Energy 2020 program. In 2010, he was named the organization’s first chief technology officer (former Comcast and RCN engineering exec Chris Bastian was named SCTE’s new CTO late last year).

Howard joined Hitachi in mid-January as director of consulting services in its energy solutions Group, but with a foot in its communications, multimedia and entertainment group.

“I love to …take on big programs and game-changing initiative,” he said of the new role. “I had  had done a fair bit of that at SCTE,” Howard added, but believes he’ll have more opportunities to take on that kind of work at Hitachi Consulting.

Heading in, he’ll be focused on helping cable operators with their WiFi deployment strategies, noting that the company is already doing some work with a “major cable operator in the U.S.”

Notably, several U.S. MSOs have embarked on WiFi deployments, including Comcast, which last week announced it had deployed 13.3 million WiFi hotspots throughout its footprint, a number that includes quasi-public hotspots in consumer-side routers.

Another big area of focus will be energy efficiency management. Howard said Hitachi Consulting has created a model in which the company finds the technology and helps to finance, build and monitor those systems. In turn, the operator pays Hitachi Consulting a subscription fee.

A major focus there will be helping MSOs get a better fix on the energy required to power hubs, headends and outside plant, Howard said, noting that about 80% of an MSO’s energy bill originates at the edge of the network.

On the WiFi side, he said, cable has a big advantage if it decides to deploy the technology ubiquitously because amps and nodes on the HFC network are powered. “We can just pop WiFi access points all over the footprint with minimal effort.”

Competitors that use passive optical networks don’t have that same power availability. “Where they are power-limited, we [the cable industry] are loaded with power.”

That, he predicted, will enable cable to become “the premier provider of ubiquitous WiFi coverage over the coming years.”

Another area he’ll focus on is the potential for cable operators to develop infrastructure-as-a-service strategies in which they outsource network operations to partners.

Before his time with SCTE, Howard was CTO of VQLink, a video quality measurement and monitoring specialist, and was CTO of Digital Furnace, a startup that developed DOCSIS upstream-boosting capacity that was acquired by Broadcom in 2000. He also co-authored the DOCSIS 1.1 and 2.0 specs, and was a lead inventor on Broadcom’s primary DOCSIS 3.0 patent.  Howard is also late of  Georgia Tech Research Institute (as a senior research engineer), Quadrock Communications (president and CEO), and Motorola (systems architect). 

With the DOCSIS 3.1 era clearly underway, the Society of Cable Telecommunications said it has teamed up with some key constituents to deliver  what it’s billing as an industry first – live training for cable engineers and ops pros for the new multi-gigabit platform.

SCTE, along with the International Society of Broadband Experts (its global brand), MSOs, vendors and CableLabs have teamed on the development of a DOCSIS 3.1 Boot Camp, training that aims to accelerate workforce readiness and the deployment of DOCSIS 3.1.

“Building on a highly successful debut late last year [in Atlanta], the DOCSIS 3.1 Boot Camp is the first advanced training of its kind and targeted for a nationwide rollout in 2016,” SCTE/IBSE said.

The three-day training program consists of more than a dozen modules and demos covering “foundational elements” of DOCSIS 3.1, along with application exercises on deployment, installation and troubleshooting.  From the vendor side, the curriculum uses content from several vendors, including Arris, Averna, Rhode & Schwartz, Trilithic and Viavi.  Additionally, Rhode & Schwartz, Trilithic and Viavi provided equipment used for in-class demonstrations for the live training program’s Atlanta debut.

SCTE/ISBE said it will offer more details about DOCSIS 3.1 Boot Camp at the CableLabs Winter Conference, set for  February  9-12 in Orlando, Fla., but noted that cable organizations can contact the Society  to schedule training at a location of their choice.

The live training program comes about as DOCSIS 3.1 products emerge and as some major MSOs push ahead with initial deployment plans. CableLabs recently certified the first batch of D3.1 modems, while Comcast announced earlier this week that it would initially deploy the new platform in five markets: Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Miami and Nashville.

“As we prepare to deploy DOCSIS 3.1, it is essential we also prepare our field engineers and technicians,” Peter Negrete, executive director XOC/network operations for Comcast University, said in a statement.  “Partnering with SCTE in the design and creation of the DOCSIS 3.1 Boot Camp unites industry engineering expertise and learning systems that tailor the training with operations in mind. The outcome is a positive learning experience for intermediate and advanced level engineers.”

“Two key factors -- our unique collaboration with the innovators, technology providers and end users and our use of ‘Just in Time’ learning techniques – underpin the unparalleled value of our DOCSIS 3.1 curriculum,” added Reni Gorman, vice president, learning and development for SCTE and ISBE. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said Bob Stanzione, chairman and CEO of Arris, will be a featured speaker during the SCTE/ISBE Leadership Institute at Tuck Executive Education program at Dartmouth, set for April 17-22 on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, N.H.

SCTE, along with the International Society of Broadband Experts (SCTE’s global brand,), said Stanzione will share insights into how operators and technology partners create and integrate new products and services.

Stanzione, who headed up Arris’s recently closed acquisition of Pace plc, is the first executive of a technology provider to be invited to speak at the SCTE/ISBE Leadership Institute at Tuck program, SCTE said. Michael Powell, NCTA’s president and CEO, is  also on tap to speak at the event, offering  legal and regulatory perspective.

SCTE/ISBE-Tuck, in its sixth year, is designed to help C-Level executives, vice presidents and senior directors foster the leadership and critical-thinking skills needed for the creation and implementation of successful business and technology strategies, SCTE said. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said it has hired cable and telecom industry vet Terry Maloney to the post of vice president, marketing and business development.

Maloney (pictured) will be taking on the duties of Bill Schankel, who is leaving SCTE at the end of the month for a new job opportunity.

Maloney has held senior-level marketing positions with Comcast, AT&T Broadband, and Tele-Communications Inc. (AT&T Broadband and TCI are now part of Comcast) during his two-decade career.

Most recently, Maloney was responsible for marketing to Fortune 1000 companies for Entertainment Promotions, and was a vice president with Philadelphia-based D4 Creative Group, which developed and implemented marketing strategies for Comcast, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable and other MSOs.

At Exton, Pa.-based SCTE, Maloney will be focused on creating and executing on opportunities to drive visibility and success in the market for SCTE, including the Energy 2020 and Corporate Alliance Partner (CAP) programs, SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, and other educational, standards, and thought-leadership activities, SCTE said.

“As our membership has risen by 57 percent to 22,000 over the past year, there has been need for a similar escalation in our marketing and communications efforts,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE, in a statement. “With the addition of Terry Maloney to our senior team, we can significantly and strategically expand communications that will enable individual and corporate members to unlock the full value of SCTE membership.”

Maloney, a winner of multiple Addy and Telly awards, holds a bachelor of arts in telecommunications from Texas Tech University.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said it is expanding its education and certification capabilities with the appointment of Reni Gorman as the organization’s first vice president, learning and development.

In that role, Gorman will be responsible for bringing to cable system operators and vendors the next phase of SCTE’s professional development evolution: Implementation of a strategic planning curriculum; migration to a scalable Learning Management System that supports membership growth; and establishment of the value of SCTE Educational and Certification programs through the use of operational performance metrics.

SCTE said Gorman, most recently president and chief strategist of her own consultancy, Minds Rewired, is a leader in using Web-based platforms to drive educational results.

As director of interactive technology for client education and internal knowledge management with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, architected the firm’s first online university, SCTE said.  The Merrill Learning Network was profiled in the Harvard Business Review and recognized by Cisco Systems for its “best of breed” Learning Management System capabilities. SCTE said Gorman’s methodologies also have brought positive results to Merck, Verizon, Unisys, AstraZeneca and other major firms.

Gorman has previously served as VP of global e-learning and  talent management for investment banking with Morgan Stanley, and was president and chief strategist for Palamate, a consultancy firm.

“The fast pace of technological change and new opportunities for service delivery are dramatically altering the needs of our members—particularly our Corporate Alliance Partners—for more sophisticated training programs,” said Lindsay Johnston, SCTE’s senior vice president, operations, in a statement. “Reni Gorman’s expertise in cognition and her ability to create and implement cutting-edge instructional architectures will be invaluable assets as we create the learning, certification and measurement tools our MSO and vendor partners require.” 

Gorman holds an undergraduate degree in Communications from Rutgers University and a graduate degree in Cognitive Studies and Intelligent Technologies from Columbia University Teachers College, from which she graduated with highest honors.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said it has launched a search for a Colorado-based director of network technical operations who will also serve as a visiting engineer at CableLabs’s facility in Louisville, Colo.

The new role will encompass supporting the creation, review and acquisition of content for SCTE’s anticipated online technical journal, SCTE webinars and the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo; and supporting standards and operational practices activities within the SCTE ANSI-accredited Standards organization in collaboration with CableLabs. Responsibilities will also include the development and revision of operational practices to include energy management in edge facilities and outside plant, efficiency practices for critical systems and facilities, the SCTE Adaptive Power Systems Interface Specification (APSIS),  and other standards related to SCTE’s Energy 2020 program.

“Our joint work with CableLabs on the rollout of DOCSIS 3.1 has underscored the value of a close relationship between our two organizations,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE and its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), said in a statement. “Our ability to have our director of network technical operations working shoulder-to-shoulder with his or her peers at CableLabs will expedite our ability to continue to align SCTE training to the latest industry innovation.”

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers has opened registration for the fifth annual SCTE IP Challenge, which will crown a winner on October 13 at the Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans. 

Before things get that far, SCTE will run two “virtual qualifying rounds” – on May 10-16 and June 7-13— where contestants will be grilled on questions spanning six IP-related categories: Routing, Network Theory, CMTS DOCSIS, Internet Protocol, Configuration, and Multimedia over IP.

The top eight scorers who are SCTE members and work for a cable MSO will be eligible to move on to the live semifinals and final at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2015, where they will compete against one another  and last year’s IP Challenge winner, Jamie Griffin of Full Channel, under a Jeopardy-style question format. The semifinals and final will take place before a live audience at the show on October 13 from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. 

The eight semifinalists will also receive complimentary registrations to this year's Cable-Tec Expo, set for October 13-16. The winner will receive a full-conference pass to Cisco Live 2016 and a full-conference pass to next year’s Cable-Tec Expo, where he or she will defend the IP Challenge title.

“As cable network operators evolve their network infrastructures, a firm grounding in IP is essential for engineering professionals,” said Tim Carnes, director, systems engineering, Cisco, the sponsor of the IP Challenge.

“Building awareness of the value of IP expertise involves a wide range of vehicles, including training, certification and events like the SCTE IP Challenge,” added Steve Harris, senior director, advanced network technologies program development for SCTE and creator of the SCTE IP Challenge.  “We’re grateful to Cisco for their tremendous support, which has helped to nurture this event into one of the highlight activities at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo.”

The Alaska Chapter of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers has again been named the organization's Chapter of the Year, recognized for its high level of excellence demonstrated throughout 2014, the SCTE announced Monday. 

The chapter achieved the same honor for its 2013 performance. The SCTE Alaska Chapter is based in Anchorage and is led by chapter chairman Markus Kofoid, OSP design engineer with GCI Communications.

SCTE Chapters provide local networking, professional development, and SCTE certification opportunities to SCTE current and prospective members in more than 70 locations around the world.

SCTE honored its best chapters based on 2014 performance during the 14th Annual SCTE Chapter Awards Dinner last week in St. Louis, as part of SCTE Chapter Leadership Conference (CLC) 2015.

SCTE also presented awards for second-through eighth-place Chapter of the Year: Razorback (second); Golden Gate (third); Llano Estacado (fourth); San Diego (fifth); Dakota Territory (sixth); Crystal Coast (seventh); and New England (eighth).

The Most Improved Chapter of the Year honors went to Dixie.

The annual SCTE Chapter Awards also include the Compliance, Recruitment, Striving for Excellence, and Professional Development awards; a Most Improved Chapter in each of those categories is also honored. The winning chapters were:

• Compliance Award: Alaska, Golden Gate, and Razorback (tie); Most Improved: Crystal Coast
• Recruitment Award: Mount Rainier; Most Improved: Crystal Coast
• Striving for Excellence Award: Alaska; Most Improved: Great Valleys
• Professional Development Award: Alaska; Most Improved: Shasta/Rogue

Additionally, SCTE presented a Chapter Achievement Certificate to three chapters: Cascade Range, Piedmont, and Southern California.

SCTE Chapter Awards are earned based on an objective points system. The SCTE Chapter Member of the Year Award, which involves a traditional nominations process, will be announced in the near future, SCTE said. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said it has expanded its Engineering Committee and that it has received reaccreditation under new SCTE Standards operating procedures by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

The Engineering Committee, led by Bill Warga, vice president, technology, and member of the Chief Architecture Group for Liberty Global, has been expanded to 15 members, including for the first time the chairs of each of the five Standards Subcommittees: Data; Digital Video; Interface Practices; Network Operations; and Energy Management, which develops standards that are aligned with the SCTE Energy 2020 program.

Independent third-party accreditation by ANSI demonstrates that the SCTE Standards Program meets the stringent quality requirements for standards development organizations, SCTE said, noting that a key component of the reaccreditation is inclusion of a ballot cycle that has been halved to two weeks from four to accommodate the fast pace of cable telecommunications technology development.

“These two developments together bring tremendous value to our industry,” said Dean Stoneback, senior director, engineering for SCTE and its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), in a statement. “By expanding the number of individuals and companies involved in the prioritization of standards work and by shortening the approval time, we’re able to accelerate availability of standards that best answer the global needs of the cable industry.”

“As cable explores a growing number of new technologies, it’s important that standards development be positioned to anticipate and strategically facilitate those opportunities,” added Warga.  “Including Subcommittee Chairs on the Engineering Committee ensures that all of the key players in standards have a voice in, and visibility into, the entire development process.”

In addition to Warga, the SCTE Engineering Committee comprises: Tom Cloonan, Arris; Richard Prodan, Broadcom; Joe Jensen, Buckeye CableSystem; Ralph Brown, CableLabs; Nick Segura, Charter Communications; Ron Hranac, Cisco Systems; Theresa Hennesy (Advisor) and Jerry Parkins, Comcast; Kevin Gantt, CommScope; Andy Scott (Advisor), NCTA; George Hart, Rogers Communications; Dan Cooper, Time Warner Cable; Craig Cuttner, Time Warner, Inc.; Paul Hearty, Sony Electronics; Eric Eby, Suddenlink Communications; and David Fellows, Consultant (and CTO and co-founder of Layer3 TV).

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers is taking on more global proportions with the launch of an international-facing training brand and the addition of Liberty Global to the group’s recently introduced “Corporate Alliance.”

On the training front, SCTE on Monday introduced the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), a unit that will focus on training and provide certification resources to cable engineers and other operations pros around the world.

SCTE said ISBE will “service as an international gateway” to its library of educational and certification resource and is “aligned with the global activity of CableLabs.

SCTE noted that ISBE also aims to “eliminate existing brand confusion,” an apparent reference to the Society for Broadband Professionals, a U.K.-based organization founded in 1945 that also goes by “SCTE.”

“Cable system operators around the world face a universal challenge: the need to make sure that their workforces are prepared for the new technologies that are on the horizon,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE, in a statement. “ISBE will bridge gaps in existing training curricula, bringing state-of-the-art content that is fine-tuned to address industry needs to cable engineering and operations professionals in every market.”

“Consumer demand for next-generation services is driving the need for increased training and certification for our technical workforce,” added Balan Nair, EVP and CTO of Denver-based Liberty Global, which operates extensively in Europe, as well as Chile and Puerto Rico. “The International Society of Broadband Experts’ ability to leverage SCTE resources will make available new training that is aligned with our operational needs.”

Liberty Global is also brining some international flair to the SCTE Corporate Alliance Program (CAP), an initiative launched in April that provides additional training and education tools to operator and vendor partners and aims to boost the Society’s membership base.

Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Suddenlink Communications were CAP’s charter members. SCTE announced the inclusion of Cablevision Systems, Charter Communications and Cox Communications in mid-August. On the supplier side, Arris Gropu and Alpha Technologies are on board as “beta vendor partners.” SCTE expects to launch a full vendor program for CAP sometime next year .

“With operations in 14 countries, Liberty Global required a single, recognizable source of workforce education across all of its markets,” said Daniel Howard, senior vice president and CTO for SCTE, said in a release. “By combining the global reach of ISBE with proven, effective SCTE resources that are the most up-to-date, we can expedite the availability of SCTE training that is considered the gold standard in the industry.”

At last check, SCTE had about 18,000 individual members.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers has added three cable operators -- Cablevision Systems, Charter Communications and Cox Communications -- to its recently announced Corporate Alliance Program.

The SCTE announced the program in April, with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Suddenlink Communications on board as charter members, offering new training and education and programs and elements aimed at expanding the SCTE’s base of individual members.

SCTE said Alpha Technologies and Arris Group are also on board as “beta vendor partners,” and will help the organization develop a full vendor program that’s expected to launch sometime in 2015.

The program is designed to help the Society form a stronger bond with its operator and vendor partners with new technology training tools and education programs, including seats at the SCTE Leadership Institute programs at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. The program also offers discounts for individual memberships. A one-year SCTE membership typically runs $68.

In April, SCTE said it had just under 17,000 members, and now has approximately 18,000.

Execs from the three new Corporate Alliance members extolled the virtues of the program:

"Specialized, top-quality training helps advance the career growth of our technical teams, drive adoption of new technical skills and deliver better customer experiences," said Pragash Pillai, senior vice president of network management and operations for Cablevision, in a statement. "These benefits make our membership in the Corporate Alliance Program so important. We are proud that our engineering and operations teams are able to leverage the advantages of SCTE training, which includes access to a vast library of resources and training materials that have been created with direct input from the operator community."

"While Corporate Alliance offers a variety of benefits, there are two that are of greatest value to Charter," added Wayne Davis, vice president, technical operations for Charter. "The immediate ability to bring SCTE training and educational resources to our engineering team as a whole, as well as the ability to identify candidates for the SCTE-Georgia Tech and SCTE Tuck leadership programs that will help us develop our next generation of management professionals."

“Aligning training with deployment is key to accelerated rollouts of new cable services,” said Marci Saaijenga, vice president of technology quality and control for Cox. "The Corporate Alliance Program’s unified learning environment creates a setting in which member organizations like ours can have continued access to the best new thinking and training processes from throughout the industry."

Showgoers can expect a deep dive into the cloud paired with some international flair at this fall's Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) Cable-Tec Expo.

SCTE announced Tuesday that Rob Lloyd, president, development and sales of Cisco Systems, and Mike Fries, president and CEO of Liberty Global, have been tapped as keynoters for the confab, set to run September 22-25 in Denver.

During his keynote on Tuesday, Sept. 23, Lloyd, a 19-year veteran of Cisco, will discuss the evolution of the consumer experience and the role of the cloud in the emerging model, SCTE said.

The Fries’s keynote, set for Wednesday, Sept. 24, will come in the form of a conversation with Tony Werner, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Comcast Cable and chair of the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2014 Program Committee. As the head of Liberty Global, Fries runs and international MSO with about 25 million customers.

“Rob Lloyd’s keynote remarks and Tony Werner’s conversation with Mike Fries will offer this year’s Cable-Tec Expo attendees truly advanced and global perspectives from three of the most influential executives who are shaping the future of cable,” said Daniel Howard, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE, in a statement. “These executives will provide the industry at large with valuable insights into how cable operators and vendors are working together in new ways to address the increasing competition and customer demand for new services, applications, platforms, architectures and speed in broadband networks – all of which will drive cable’s growth in the years to come.”

Last week, SCTE and CableLabs announced the speaker and panel lineup for a full-day “Symposium” focused on wireless and DOCSIS 3.1 that will take Monday, Sept. 22, in conjunction with the Cable-Tec Expo.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers said it’s accepting registrations for the fourth annual SCTE IP Challenge, a competition sponsored by Cisco Systems that will test the IP knowledge of cable telecom pros and crown a champion at this year’s Cable-Tec Expo in Denver.

SCTE will host two “virtual” qualifying rounds— from June 1-7 and from July 13-19 — featuring questions in six IP-related categories: Routing, Network Theory, CMTS DOCSIS, Internet Protocol, Configuration, and Multimedia over IP. Those who register by Friday, May 23 will be in the running for an iPad Air.

The top eight scorers who are SCTE members and work for a cable MSO will be eligible to move on to the live semifinals and finals at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, to compete against one another and the 2013 SCTE IP Challenge winner, Kenneth Corbett of Charter Communications.

Featuring a Jeopardy-style question format, the semifinals and finals will take place before a live audience at Cable-Tec Expo on Monday, September 22 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. MT.

The eight 2014 semifinalists will also receive complimentary registrations to SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, slated to run Sept. 22-25 at the Colorado Convention Center.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said nominations are being accepted for prestigious 2014 SCTE Cable-Tec Expo® Awards, set for September 22-25 in Denver.

The deadline is Monday, June 2 for nominations for the SCTE Member of the Year Award, the SCTE Hall of Fame induction, the SCTE Excellence in Standards Award, and the SCTE Safety Awards. Nominations for the Member of the Year, Standards, and Safety awards can be submitted at here. Hall of Fame nominations can be submitted here.

The awards will be presented at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2014, with Member of the Year and Hall of Fame honors will be presented during the Annual Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 23. SCTE-Tuck Executive Leadership Program speaker Dr. Marshall Goldsmith will present the luncheon’s keynote address.

In an effort to drive new technology training tools and education programs while also expanding its base of individual members, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) has launched a Corporate Alliance Program, naming Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Suddenlink as the initiative’s charter members.

According to SCTE, the new program will focus on the development of training and education for emerging technologies, and offer discounts on individual employee memberships, access to online courses, and seats at the SCTE Leadership Institute programs at the Tuck School of Businesses at Dartmouth and the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.

The Society, the cable industry's tech standard-setting organization, is in discussions with other MSOs about the initiative and expects to announce initial vendor partners “in the near future.”

SCTE president and CEO Mark Dzuban said a key aim is to create customized products and programs for various MSOs, noting that the SCTE’s focus will continue to develop content for the general industry, with a portion now set to go toward tailored, unique projects and programs for Corporate Alliance Program members. Dzuban identified cable’s IP services migration and the industry’s ongoing move into wireless as new areas that SCTE will apply focus on.

The Corporate Alliance program “is not a one-size-fits-all [initiative],” Dzuban insisted, believing that the programs that come out of it will help to improve cable customer satisfaction and reduce internal workforce churn. “It’s not just a large MSO solution.”  

But SCTE also views the new program as a significant growth opportunity for its membership base and the chance to expose more engineers to the Society’s education and training programs.

Under the original format, individuals paid an annual $68 membership fee. MSOs and vendors that are part of the new program will pay partnership dues, but will also receive discounted rates on individual SCTE memberships for their employees.

SCTE, which today has just under 17,000 members, believes it is already in position to add between 15,000 to 20,000 new members by the end of its current fiscal year, which ends, in June, according to Bill Schankel, SCTE’s vice president of marketing.

“We’re customizing the proposals” to fit different-sized MSOs and industry suppliers, Schankel said.

SCTE’s revenues, which were about $11 million for its last fiscal year, come from those memberships, along with content and training programs, and conferences. Dzuban estimated that about 40% of SCTE revenues currently come from the organization's annual Cable-Tec Expo. The 2014 iteration is slated to take place in Denver from September 22-25.

“The SCTE Corporate Alliance Program will contribute to the development and sharing of new training approaches and other opportunities for cable,” said Terry Cordova, senior vice president and CTO of Suddenlink, and chairman of the Board of Directors of SCTE.  “By bringing together two key ingredients – unparalleled resources and the member reach through SCTE Chapters -- the program will create a unified learning and solutions environment that is tailored to the needs of the entire industry.”

“The rapid pace of change in technology, consumer expectations and the competitive landscape is creating new opportunities for engineering and operations professionals,” added Patrick O’Hare, senior vice president of field engineering and technical operations for Comcast.  “The SCTE Corporate Alliance Program is a unified approach that will leverage the commitments of operators and leading vendors. The ultimate goals are to accelerate how training tools and products are created, to enable operators and vendors to advance the careers of their technical employees, and to keep our industry on the leading edge of telecommunications innovation.”