10G Announcement at CES

10G Announcement at CES

Unleashing the power of the cable network ­– again

When technology advances usher in new experiences, the unsung hero often is the cable network that connects innovation with consumers. Whether it’s the broadband revolution, the launch of UHD, 4K and ultimately 8K and even 16K services or the emergence of Internet of Things devices, a common thread has been cable’s role as the catalyst that turns ideation into market success.

Today’s announcement of our industry’s commitment to 10G service is yet another giant leap forward for our industry and the consumers it serves. The quantum jumps in speed – up to 10 times faster than today’s 1 gigabit service – will make cable the go-to platform for a new wave of transformative service offerings.

Our industry’s vision of the future is awe-inspiring. Telehealth services that increase doctors’ abilities to give patients the diagnostic care they need, when and where they need it. Holodecks that can unlock new ways for consumers to experience entertainment and “classroom” education. Virtual reality capabilities that will pave new avenues for the transfer of knowledge. And ideas that are still a spark of the imagination away from the drawing board.

For SCTE, the implications of all of this are huge. As the industry’s applied science arm, we work in lockstep with the legal, regulatory and policy teams at NCTA and the research and innovation gurus at CableLabs to ensure that our operator and vendor partners can maximize the effectiveness of every new technology breakthrough.

Our standards invigorate the marketplace by providing vendors with the ability to align their product development efforts with the goals of the industry. Our learning and development curricula stimulate excellence in a workforce that is trained to execute on two key success metrics: rapid time to market and outstanding customer experiences. SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, the largest cable trade event in the Americas, is the fulcrum for the product innovation and education that powers technology deployments. And our chapter meetings provide a forum for gathering and exchanging updates on the latest technology releases.

We’ve been down this road before. Even as DOCSIS 3.1 technology was being created, we collaborated with CableLabs and our industry partners to have a trained workforce and compatible products at the ready when the technology came to market. I have no doubt that we will be similarly prepared at every stage of the 10G evolution – from 1Gbps today to 5Gbps and ultimately 10Gbps in the coming decade, with each step offering lower latencies, enhanced reliability, higher compute capabilities, and better security at scale.

In his remarks at Cable-Tec Expo this year, NCTA’s Michael Powell observed that our industry excels at delivering revolutionary experiences, but not always at getting credit for them. He pointed to our pioneering role in the broadband revolution and how we’ve made one gigabit service available to more than 80 percent of our footprint in just five years.

With the promise of 10G, we’re at the threshold of a new and exciting chapter that will showcase once again the power of the cable network. We look forward to working with our partners at NCTA, CableLabs and the rest of the industry to bring 10G from today’s commitment to a groundbreaking product that transforms communications and entertainment around the world.

Mark Dzuban

President/CEO

SCTE