Cable Tech Vendors Make IPTV Push

At least a dozen cable TV equipment suppliers are brandishing new hardware, software, and alliances at the IBC 2006 show in Amsterdam, which kicked off Sept. 7.

The largely U.S. equipment manufacturers -- which run the gamut from Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)'s large Scientific-Atlanta operation to such small startups as Broadbus Technologies Inc. and RGB Networks Inc. -- are all seeking to add more phone companies, broadcasters, and satellite TV providers to their cable-centric client rosters. The gearheads are also pining to sign up more European, Asian, and Latin American customers as they increasingly look beyond the North American cable industry for growth.

Take Broadbus, for instance. At IBC, the Boxborough, Mass.-based video-on-demand (VOD) server vendor -- which is slated to be taken over by consumer electronics giant Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) by the end of the month -- is unveiling a new version of its B-1 Video Server with upgraded management software. The new software release is designed to support such IPTV-based video services as network DVR (nDVR) and time-shifted TV applications, as well as on-demand ad insertion.

"The offering is designed to be available to both cable and telephone companies," says Tom Kennedy, senior director of marketing for Broadbus, who's especially aiming to pick up phone companies. "Our goal is to expand as widely as possible."

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— Alan Breznick, Site Editor, Cable Digital News