2013: Year in Review

To a degree, yes — but several other issues also deserve honourable mentions. Let’s start with TR-069. This protocol is instrumental for providers exploring connected home services. The connected home will continue to be a hot button issue for years to come, with more households adopting smart features like automatic temperature controls and remote home security systems, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) expecting households to have 50 Internet-connected devices by 2022. TR-069 will be a vital part of the puzzle for providers who will need to see beyond the gateway device into the residential premises to remotely monitor and manage devices.

Moving onto bandwidth monitoring, our OTT survey indicated that this is certainly a topic of concern for most providers, but operators in different regions are tackling the issue in different ways. Overall, increased bandwidth is tied to the user experience — how can you deliver the most relevant and best services to subscribers while still generating revenue?

CMTS changes are on the horizon, but I think in reality 2013 offered a wider focus on new technology in general. Trade shows focused on the future possibilities offered by software-defined networking (SDN) and DOCSIS 3.1, as well as how cable operators can use the convergence of technology to their advantage to expand service bundles, like home security or WiFi offloading. IPv6 was also an important issue, as more providers moved into the labs to test deployments.

It’s been another busy year for the industry — what were your highlights? Join the conversation by following @incognito_sfwr on Twitter.