MINNEAPOLIS – THE INDEPENDENT SHOW – Small and midsized cable operators agree that broadband is as important as ever, but the way they are implementing their video strategies is still a mixed bag. While some operators are upgrading to new IP- and app-based services and platforms, others are also partnering with third-party streaming services or, in some extreme cases, exiting the video business altogether.

Variances in those strategies were on display here Monday during a CTO panel that also explored emerging technologies such as AI.

Cable One has largely been focused on broadband and commercial services and, for years, has been indifferent about pay-TV losses, which have driven video penetration at the operator to less than 10%.

Meanwhile, Cable One has focused on converting remaining video subs to IP-based video platforms in partnership with TiVo largely to help the operator reclaim valuable spectrum that's been used to deliver legacy QAM-based video service. The "primary driver" there is to apply that reclaimed capacity for high-speed Internet services and to help push out physical plant upgrades, said Ken Johnson, the operator's chief digital and technology officer. Cable One expects to initiate DOCSIS 4.0 network upgrades in 2024.

Bluepeak, an operator that serves portions of states such as North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Oklahoma, is also eager to transition from legacy, QAM-based systems to IP video and reclaim spectrum. That reclaimed spectrum can then be applied to broadband, the primary conduit for streaming.

"Video consumption is at an all-time high, just not provided by us," Bluepeak CTO Cash Hagen said. Internet-delivered streaming "uses a big part of our network that we spend lots and lots of capital on," he added. "There's no going back."

MTCO Communications, a telco serving parts of central Illinois, is wrestling with the idea of reselling third-party streaming services or upgrading to a streaming-based service that could be fed by operator-supplied boxes along with a bring-your-own-device model.

"We think [video] is still important," said Brian Kettman, MTCO's CTO.

Hagen agreed that video remains important as a driver of broadband penetration as well as overall average revenue per user (ARPU). Pay-TV is no longer in the "number one slot," but providing local TV service still resonates in rural areas, he added.

"Local TV is still unbelievably valuable, and margin-positive on a good day," Hagen said.

Eyes on AI

Execs on the CTO panel were more uniform in identifying AI as a future focus.

MTCO is investigating the use of AI. "There's a lot of power there if you know how to harness it," Kettman said.

AI "will have a tremendous impact and remake the industry over time," Johnson said. He relayed a story in which a technician used ChatGPT, with the aid of SCTE and NCTI standards, to help resolve a network issue and then assist with the writing of the associated trouble ticket.

Borrelli said the NCTC is not currently focused on AI technologies but suspects that any future focus will be done as a joint effort. "It screams for a task force," he said.

Related posts:

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading