CES 2017 Kick-Off

[Authored by: Drew Kempen, CCI Cable Architecture & Strategy CSE]

Another year has passed and CES 2017 has arrived! As the show floor opens today, we are looking forward to what might surprise us or wow us. More importantly, we want to understand how the technologies available today and soon to be released are going to impact our service-provider networks.

2016 Recap:

In 2016, the theme of the show seemed to be “all things IP”. Everything was becoming connected and the age of the connected ‘man’ has arrived. The future ramifications that the Internet of Things (IoT) will have on our networks cannot be understated. It signaled the beginning of the end of the old guard of broadcast video delivery. It would probably be safe to assume the nearly 100% of most service providers growth last year was focused around growing IP service delivery capabilities.

For topics relative to video impact: We saw a focus on Streaming Devices; and the first year of aggressive promotion of ‘Skinny Bundles’, Ultra Def (4K+) video and Virtual Reality (VR). Throughout the year, the market saw tremendous growth in the adaptation of skinny bundles and a large increase in OTT streaming devices in homes. 4K still hasn’t made any significant impact and is still TBD on when, if and how hard it will hit.

VR is scary. If you haven’t tried VR, go buy a Samsung S7 version phone and the Gear VR and put it on. Call it a business research expense. Within 10 minutes, it should be apparent the potential this has to take over the world. Or at least our ability to socialize in a traditional face-to-face manner.

CES 2017: What lies in store?

In 2016, we saw the introduction of a vision of the future. The potential for the eventual ‘All IP’ world. In 2017, we will begin to see the execution of that vision. It will be interesting to see how far along technology has come into making that execution faster, easier, more scale-able and cost effective. We are at the dawn of a dramatic shift in the way people live. If feels that we have lived in the digital age for a while, but many analysts and technology experts say we are barely scratching the surface of what is to come. This is exciting for consumers but daunting for service providers. Seeing these trends and vision ahead of time is critical for developing the solutions, strategy, and plan for the growth of our networks into the future. We at CCI are committed to helping our customers successfully navigate this transition through this exciting time!

Stay tuned as we keep you updated throughout the event.