Cable-Tec moves into the big leagues

As the telco industry descends on New Orleans for the Supercomm '97 extravaganza this week, the cableworld prepares to gather in Orlando for the Cable-Tec Expo.

"There's definitely a feeling on the part of the vendor community that if you're a hardware vendor at the National show or the Western Cable show, and you're doing some of the less glamorous elements, it's hard to get noticed," said Gary Kim, principal at Itibiti Ventures, Littleton, Colo. "Those folks are shifting their attention to Cable-Tec.

Among the wares and announcements expected for this week's show are these highlights: Tellabs will demonstrate an integrated access, transport and management solution, which includes its Cablespan cable telephony system and the Cable-span element management system.

General Instrument's NextLevel Systems division will exhibit its CFT-2200 advanced analog set-top boxes, as well as its digital boxes and associated headend equipment.

Antec will show its Cornerstone cable telephony system, a product of the Antec/Nortel Arris Interactive venture. The first Cornerstone users conference was held in early May.

Scientific-Atlanta will demonstrate new modules for its Continuum headend system, including an IF modulator, upconverter and stereo encoder.

Barco will show its Luxor digital optical link that enables uncompressed digital video, audio and data to be sent over distances up to 20 miles.