The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) said it has expanded its Engineering Committee and that it has received reaccreditation under new SCTE Standards operating procedures by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The Engineering Committee, led by Bill Warga, vice president, technology, and member of the Chief Architecture Group for Liberty Global, has been expanded to 15 members, including for the first time the chairs of each of the five Standards Subcommittees: Data; Digital Video; Interface Practices; Network Operations; and Energy Management, which develops standards that are aligned with the SCTE Energy 2020 program.
Independent third-party accreditation by ANSI demonstrates that the SCTE Standards Program meets the stringent quality requirements for standards development organizations, SCTE said, noting that a key component of the reaccreditation is inclusion of a ballot cycle that has been halved to two weeks from four to accommodate the fast pace of cable telecommunications technology development.
“These two developments together bring tremendous value to our industry,” said Dean Stoneback, senior director, engineering for SCTE and its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), in a statement. “By expanding the number of individuals and companies involved in the prioritization of standards work and by shortening the approval time, we’re able to accelerate availability of standards that best answer the global needs of the cable industry.”
“As cable explores a growing number of new technologies, it’s important that standards development be positioned to anticipate and strategically facilitate those opportunities,” added Warga. “Including Subcommittee Chairs on the Engineering Committee ensures that all of the key players in standards have a voice in, and visibility into, the entire development process.”
In addition to Warga, the SCTE Engineering Committee comprises: Tom Cloonan, Arris; Richard Prodan, Broadcom; Joe Jensen, Buckeye CableSystem; Ralph Brown, CableLabs; Nick Segura, Charter Communications; Ron Hranac, Cisco Systems; Theresa Hennesy (Advisor) and Jerry Parkins, Comcast; Kevin Gantt, CommScope; Andy Scott (Advisor), NCTA; George Hart, Rogers Communications; Dan Cooper, Time Warner Cable; Craig Cuttner, Time Warner, Inc.; Paul Hearty, Sony Electronics; Eric Eby, Suddenlink Communications; and David Fellows, Consultant (and CTO and co-founder of Layer3 TV).
