Video Testing and Monitoring Opportunities at CATV MSOs

Implications: Speaking at the Cable-Tec Show in Philadelphia recently in June, 2008, CATV MSO leadership conceded "that the industry" needed to spend more time and resources to sample and fix their video transmission problems.  Huge and complex software integration issues face the MSOs as they install complex video equipment and compression gear, and "only 31 percent said they rely on network monitoring toos to root out video errors.  Companies that do video monitoring should be talking to the CATV MSOs right now.

Analysis: As the CATV MSOs have delved into data and telephony, they have also kept the old standby video transmission of yesteryear as their mainstay product.  Apparently they have had to add large amounts of software and video gear (switched digital video and video on demand for example) and have turned down most analog channels to make room for digital channels, and video monitoring has taken a backseat in the spending arena.  With 31 percent of 9 MSO executives, sponsored by Symmetricom Inc,  saying that they use current network monitoring tools to root out video problems, then there appears to be a vacuum in the video monitoring sector.  Enterprising video (and data) monitoring companies should be knocking on the MSOs' doors right now to help them correct service problems such as tilting pictures, taking too long to load video, and frozen frames (to quote the article).   Data access networking companies such as Gigamon, should be looking into this valuable part of the MSOs' business, offering them cost effective ways to keep track of and to repair video transmission problems that will only worsen over time.