First, a tip of the hat to CableLabs; its Innovation Showcase of the top 12 new ideas in cable, even though closed to the media, is an interesting and informative event every year that provides a nice window into the future world of cable technology.
Now the follow-up: announcing the first annual (which means there will be more in the future) FierceCable 15. This is our attempt to showcase 15 innovative companies that have taken their products and ideas off the whiteboard and into the field. Qualification is easy: Vendors, service providers and any other interested parties can nominate a company that has a product deployed somewhere either in trial or as a working piece of a cable system.
Since there are a number of ways a product can benefit a cable system, the true distinctions and true differentiations that comprise the FierceCable 15 will be how these companies meet their customers' needs with their products.
The success of any list like this depends on outside participation. There are enough new ideas floating around networks, the home environment, the cloud, high-speed broadband and telephony to provide quite a playing field of product opportunities. To make this list successful and relevant we need participation from vendors and/or operators; those who have seen the products at work, experienced their benefits and can detail, in reasonably short order, why the companies that provide those products should be part of the first annual FierceCable 15.
So let's start the ball rolling. Send me your ideas of what companies you feel deserve to be on the first annual FierceCable 15 list and why; what their products are accomplishing and will accomplish. Be succinct. Long descriptions and heavy technical detail won't add weight to a nomination.
For now, submit your ideas in this manner:
- company name
- product name
- product purpose
- where deployed or in trial
- product benefits
To make this as easy as possible, send your submissions to [email protected] with the subject line FierceCable 15. We'll be announcing the winners just before SCTE Cable Tec Expo in October, so get your nominations in now so we can do this up right.
And may the best companies be recognized.--Jim