SCTE's Mark Dzuban on cable and the connected device revolution

Mark Dzuban, CEO, Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers

Dzuban

With the popularity of connected TVs and mobile devices like the iPad, the education sessions and products exhibited on the floor at the cable industry's annual convention for cable engineers is quickly changing. In addition to products and education sessions focused on IP video delivery, Mark Dzuban, CEO of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), says the Cable-Tec Expo will feature more energy efficient products in its green pavilion, and that SCTE expects more participation from consumer electronics companies at next year's convention. In a Q&A with FierceCable, Dzuban says products and education sessions about business services and cellular backhaul will also be a "big deal" at the Expo, which runs Nov. 15-17 in Atlanta.

FierceCable: What kind of an impact has the economy and cuts in travel budgets had on attendance?

Mark Dzuban: If you look at expositions in general, they've become more difficult based on who you are and what your proposition is. I think we've been good to stay pretty much flat in a tough economy because we're still providing value and growing, and we're continuing to configure our business to meet the needs of the MSO and operating companies. I'd say the peak (in attendance) was probably in 2008 in Philadelphia (where Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is headquartered). I think the MSOs have been good to participate where they can even in tough times and travel constraints. Philadelphia was an anomaly because everybody walked across the street to the Marriott. I would say this year is pretty good.

You have to remember the situation we've had to work with. We had the consolidation (of cable trade shows and conferences), which moved us from the spring to the fall, the constraints in travel budgets. I see us creating more content in a compressed way, all aligned with the MSO's needs and their calendars.

FC: Are you seeing growth from any particular sector in terms of new attendees or exhibitors when it comes to things like multiscreen delivery?

MD: So what's new? We've gone from 47 to 57 international exhibitors. Also, from a new market sector, we have new vendors in our green pavilion that are showing the wares of new solutions. They're focused on our industry as a high value proposition.

And what we're seeing--it probably happened too late this year to get them embedded, but the CE (consumer electronics) folks. We're much more focused on the industry's needs around consumer electronics. That's a big deal. We're going to have to figure out how to package that. Maybe that's one of our new spotlights, or an enhancement of our existing spotlights.

FC: What types of consumer electronics companies have expressed interest in coming to the convention?

MD: Part of my objective is managing untethered devices--anything that hangs on the cable network that is wireless, everything from the new apps on the Droids, the iPads, Zooms--how do you manage them and what products and services can we deliver. How do you support them from an operational perspective, what tools do we have available? And then 3DTV and HDTV that may be more incorporating the cable terminal devices; integrating solutions, which could be WiFi, which could be cable modems, which could be a whole series of software and hardware that becomes much more compatible with some of the services we're deploying to simplify the consumer experience. If I look at what we're asked to do, that's it in a crux.

FC: Could some of these new devices pose a threat to cable operators and their set-top vendors in that a viewer could rely on a connected TV or an iPad to watch programming, and may not have to rely on programming delivered by a cable operator?

MD: You'll see market trends, you've got to do the threat analysis. But you also use the threat analysis to say, how can I build an equivalent value proposition to counter it? I see the cable operators forecasting what they need and developing the solutions so they are optimal to the cable experience. I see the relationship between these (CE) folks getting very strong, and a lot of the new vendors are building relationships with our operator friends to build in those solutions. So I guess I don't see it as much of a threat. I see it as the evolution of our networks, and how do we adapt to optimize the customer experience in favor of our solutions.

FC: Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) has said that the set-top could go away one day, that it could be replaced by IP devices delivering content from a cloud network. Do you think we're going to see traditional cable customer premise equipment going away?

MD: If you look at the aging and life cycle of this hardware, it's not going away tomorrow. I think there will be a gradual move as we want to understand what the next best solution is. You have the early adopters, and then you have my family who holds onto a TV for 20 years. Are set-top boxes going away? No, the set-top box is going to evolve with the needs of the marketplace.

You have a have a spectrum of solutions. If (operators) look at the portfolio today, they'll look at a portfolio that may have five or six different scenarios, with a lot of variance between the grandma with a TV that is 15 to 20 years old versus the early adopter who has everything that is wireless and using the iPad to watch his or her programs. If you want to have decent penetration, you've got to look at that whole spectrum. I see the continuum of cable's innovation, helping get that done but expanding the relationship with terminal gear providers such as those that deliver the video presentation and hardware to include some of those devices. Our guys are working behind the scenes very aggressively to make sure it adapts to our needs.

FC: You have several sessions on cellular backhaul. How much of an opportunity is cellular backhaul services for a cable operator?

MD: It's a big deal. The thinking is, this has to be a highly reliable, high performance, backup power network, that even when everything else goes down, the wireless system has to be sustainable. The cable guys are really focused on high performance and reliability, and how do you sustain it during periods of network challenge, which could be hurricanes, bad weather, fires. These opportunities are great and significant revenue for us, the wireless backhaul piece.

FC: What types of products are going to generate the most buzz at the convention this year?

MD: Efficient CPE (customer premise equipment), being able to be cost effective, higher performing, all of the IP video, because we're reducing our analog in pretty big steps. So how do we become very efficient around IP video, next-generation solutions.

Business services is a big deal. Business services is the next big wave of revenue. And IP transport--the whole notion of national, regional and local networks is continuing to grow. You very rarely see the studio or video come off the air any more. It's usually direct feeds and the quality is being improved.

Also, wireless, the untethered devices. How do you manage them? What can you do from a WiFi perspective? MDU (multiple dwelling unit) solutions. Network reliability is a big one, to support customer services and improve consumer performance. I think the industry is stepping up to do what they need to do to compete in a tough time.