SCTE•ISBE–NCTA Fall Technical Forum to Boost Learning With 36% Increase in SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo® Workshop Presentations

JULY 10, 2017 (Exton, PA)—The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), and NCTA–The Internet & Television Association announced today a 36% increase in the educational component for SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo® 2017 this fall that will enable expanded insights on new access technologies, Internet of Things, security, and other areas that are essential to the success of the cable telecommunications industry.

The SCTE•ISBE–NCTA Fall Technical Forum will feature 98 presentations—up from 72 that Expo featured a year ago—in almost four dozen workshops when Expo is conducted Tuesday through Friday, Oct. 17-20, at the Colorado Convention Center, in Denver. Workshops will address six key areas spanning established and next-generation technologies: Evolved Network—Wireline and Wireless; Cloud Virtualization; Security and Authentication; Business Services; the Customer Journey; and Future Services and Technologies.

A joint production of SCTE•ISBE, NCTA, and CableLabs®, the technical workshops will serve as a forum for thought leadership from a wide range of large and small international operators as well as a cross-section of technology partners that includes both traditional providers of cable products and services and newcomers such as Glympse and XCellAir. The agenda has been constructed by the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2017 Program Committee, chaired by Terry Cordova, executive vice president and CTO of Altice USA, and Jim Blackley, executive vice president, Engineering and Information Technology, for Charter Communications.

Regular registration is now available for SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, offering significant discounts over late/onsite registration. Registration and additional information on registration options are available at http://expo.scte.org. Tom Rutledge, Chairman and CEO of Charter Communications, will be one of the keynote speakers at the General Session, which is set for the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 18.

“From our program chairs right on through experts like Comcast’s Mark Hess, Liberty Global’s Bill Warga, Shaw’s Zoran Stakic, and Altice USA’s Pragash Pillai, our committee was clear on the technologies that will drive our industry forward,” said Chris Bastian, senior vice president and CTO of SCTE•ISBE. “The scope and direction of this inaugural Fall Technical Forum is designed to help operators, technology partners, and the cable workforce as a whole to achieve real, measurable success.”

“Every day we see how ultra high-speed networks are evolving to deliver new generations of services,” said Mark Bell, Vice President of Industry Affairs at NCTA–The Internet & Television Association. “The educational content of the Fall Technical Forum is part of a broader SCTE•ISBE educational structure that is designed to ensure that the cable workforce is prepared to deploy new technologies as soon as they become available.”

Among the workshop topics at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2017 are:

  • HFC-Wireless convergence, Full Duplex DOCSIS®, deep fiber networks, and other architectural considerations for evolving cable network capabilities to support new generations of service, as well as ways to improve energy management at edge facilities in conjunction with the SCTE•ISBE Energy 2020® program;
  • The increasing impact of virtualization throughout the cable network, including the transition from CCAP to virtual CCAP and, ultimately, to a virtual hub, and virtualized service assurance that can bring advanced monitoring, machine-intelligence capabilities, and opex savings to networks and service deployments;
  • How to guard against data breaches, hacking, theft-of-service, and other security concerns, particularly as the industry introduces Internet of Things (IoT) support;
  • How the advent of 5G and virtualization is revolutionizing the delivery of high-value business services;
  • New customer service techniques that are designed to increase customer satisfaction such as location information, tool integration, and enhanced analytics;
  • Expert discussion of the technologies that are at the foundation of future cable growth, including HDR, Full Duplex DOCSIS, Wi-Fi, Interactivity, and IoT.

More information on the Expo workshops is available at http://expo.scte.org.

SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo® is renowned as the pre-eminent venue that combines the thought leadership, engineering innovation, and deal-making that power the technological future of broadband telecommunications.  As a nexus for content and service providers, technology partners, and industry experts, Cable-Tec Expo provides rich insights into technologies, products, and services that can generate revenue, streamline operations, and increase customer satisfaction.

In addition to learned presentations and technology-centric exhibits, Cable-Tec Expo features valuable learning, peer-to-peer interaction, and networking opportunities that are designed to prepare the technology workforce for the advent of future products and services. Cable TV Pioneers will conduct its 2017 annual banquet in conjunction with Cable-Tec Expo, on Tuesday, Oct. 17.