SCTE Cable-Tec Expo: Cable leaving digital era, entering Internet era

Cable television is at the next transformative stop along its evolutionary path, Robert Howald, CTO of Motorola told an early morning audience during the opening day of SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans.

"We are leaving the digital era; it's been good to us," Howald said. "We are entering the Internet era."

Cable is not leading the way into that era, but it can be the integral player, Howald noted, as its customers move to more Internet-based behavior and devices, including pursuing over-the-top (OTT) applications that reside outside the traditional cable experience.

"It's not necessarily a super-simple thing to do to go over the top," Howald said.

That's gives cable the opening it needs to be the provider of choice as long as it delivers the "Four Anys," he said: any content, any device, any time, any place.

Related articles:
TellyTopia: Over-the-top can neutralize Internet threat
Cord-cutting influence? Moody's downgrades cable; Credit Suisse worried
Rising tide for digital watermarking
FierceCable's Fierce 15: Top cable industry players 2010