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Cable-Tec Expo Explores 3D, IP, by Gary Arlen.

For an event that historically focused on field engineering, this month’s annual SCTE Cable-Tec Expo is broadening its vision to encompass 3DTV, home networking, IPTV, energy management and an array of business factors that affect the cable TV industry.

“Cable is uniquely positioned to deliver 3D television, home networking and a variety of other emerging services that can enhance the customer experience,” said Jay Rolls, chairman of the program committee for this year’s Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ annual conference and exhibit, which runs Oct. 20-22 at New Orleans’ Morial Convention Center.

SCTE expects about 9,000 attendees, comparable to last year’s show in Denver, and about 400 exhibits.

“The IP technologies that are on the agenda are at the forefront of enabling the industry to cost-effectively capitalize on those opportunities as ways to build subscribership and revenue,” adds Rolls, who is senior vice president of technology at Cox Communications. “The availability of and demand for new services are accelerating the ability of cable operators to differentiate product bundles, attract and retain subscribers and generate new revenue.”

GREEN SHOOTS

His comments intertwine the technology and business sides of the cable industry, a high priority for the new management of SCTE and the new structure of the annual Cable-Tec Expo.

“We’re starting to see some of the solutions [from] ideas we planted last year,” says Mark Dzuban, who became SCTE President/CEO shortly before last year’s Cable-Tec Expo. “We look at business from an engineering perspective, because engineering and operations [represent] two-thirds of the capital and operating expenses” at a cable system.