CableLabs announced that its new office in San Francisco is officially open for business, as the R&D consortium looks to bring Silicon Valley's heritage of technology innovation to the cable industry.
Comcast senior vice president of engineering John Carney will work on behalf of CableLabs through 2012 to help establish the new facility. He is working with CableLabs senior vice president of technology development Jean-François Mulé, who will lead the San Francisco office's technical staff. Mulé, previously based in Denver, most recently was VP of IP technologies and services for CableLabs.
The office is in San Francisco's financial district at 180 Montgomery St. (suite 2480), a 25-story office building that serves as the corporate headquarters for Bank of the West. CableLabs expects to add software engineers and technology specialists at the location through the remainder of the year and into 2012.
The new office -- which CableLabs signed the lease for in August -- will serve as a base of operations for "specific engagements aligned with the intersection of IP communications and broadband application technologies." The location also will let CableLabs collaborate with participants in the Bay Area technology, academic and investment communities.
"As cable services evolve from those based on traditional cable-specific technologies to those that are open and software-based, the cable industry has increasing synergy with innovation initiatives that are not traditionally associated with cable, including Internet applications such as social networking, gaming and more," said Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Glenn Britt, who is chairman of the CableLabs board. "The new CableLabs San Francisco office will enhance the cable industry's position in an epicenter for technology innovation and is expected to facilitate the development of new partnerships that lead to the cultivation of new technologies."
Comcast chief technology officer Tony Werner added, "Comcast is excited that CableLabs' new San Francisco office is extending cable's reach into the innovation communities of the West Coast. This CableLabs initiative is an excellent complement to Comcast's own innovation and investment initiatives in that area." Werner is chairman of the CableLabs Technology Advisory Committee.
Liberty Global CTO Balan Nair said the CableLabs Bay Area presence "signals a new era of collaboration between the international cable community and leading software architects who are creating exciting new experiences in media, communications and entertainment."
The San Francisco office was the brainchild of CableLabs president and CEO Paul Liao, who last month announced that he will not renew his contract with the consortium and will leave sometime in 2012.
