CableLabs goes global
August 14, 2013
CableLabs, the non-profit research and development consortium for the cable industry, has announced a substantial expansion of its global member base, adding 14 new members in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Building on relationships with existing international members, CableLabs members now serve over one hundred million cable subscribers around the world. As the global market becomes more competitive, it is critical that technology standards become aligned to support and accelerate the continued innovation necessary for the cable industry to meet the future needs of consumers on an international scale.
It says the global expansion brings many benefits to cable companies, technology suppliers, and other stakeholders in the cable and technology markets. CableLabs global alignment of technologies and strategies will allow technology suppliers to develop and bring to market solutions that scale across cable operators worldwide. “This expansion further demonstrates CableLabs’ dedication to innovation in the cable industry,” said Phil McKinney, president and chief executive officer of CableLabs. “Collaborating globally on technology standards and strategies will allow CableLabs to accelerate development of truly innovative technologies, bringing them to market faster, more cost effectively and at scale.”
A central piece of the organization’s growth in Europe is the transition of the activities of Cable Europe Labs – the technology consortium for European cable operators – to CableLabs. With CableLabs now supporting the European market, all of CableLabs members will gain knowledge from deployed technologies and experiences through its new members. CableLabs adds nine new members in the European region joining Liberty Global. These include Com Hem (Sweden), Get (Norway), Kabel Deutschland (Germany), LIWEST (Austria), Ono (Spain), Tele Columbus (Germany), YouSee (Denmark), Ziggo (Netherlands), and ZON (Portugal). “The transition of Cable Europe Labs activities to CableLabs opens doors for cable and technology stakeholders globally,” said Mike Fries, chief executive officer, Liberty Global. “Working together and sharing key learnings from individual markets will enable members and technology suppliers to create innovative solutions to meet the current and future needs of subscribers on a global scale.” Reflecting the rapid growth in Asia and Latin America CableLabs has also welcomed new members in these regions including J:COM (Japan), PT Link Net (Indonesia), Topway (Shenzhen, China), WASU (Hangzhou, China) and Cablevisión (Argentina).