"Welcome fellow plumbers!"
With those words, one of Canada's most accomplished cable TV engineers opened the 2010 SCTE Canadian Summit this morning in Toronto.
Israel 'Sruki' Switzer delivered the Opening Keynote Address to an assembled audience of cable TV engineers and executives from across Canada and the United States.
In his remarks, Switzer noted that cable engineers are much like plumbing professionals - "We don't care what gets flushed down the pipe!" he explained. Cable engineers build the pipe, maintain them, even make sure they do not get clogged, but in the end, "we don't care what goes through."
Switzer predicted that the separation between content and its transport would only increase in the short term (five to ten years), and that 'Net Neutrality' would be an accepted fact within ten years.
Switzer surely knows the arc of the cable business, if anyone does.
He was there at the start, building some of the country's first cable systems (in Estevan and Weyburn, Saskatchewan) and later becoming Chief Engineer for Maclean-Hunter's new cable service in Toronto.
It was during his time at Maclean Hunter that he came up with the idea of a TV station to be distributed mainly by cable. Sruki and his journalist wife Phyllis Switzer assembled a group of partners, including Moses Znaimer, and in 1972, they founded CityTV.
In 1975, Sruki was awarded National Cable Television Association (U.S.) Vanguard Award for Science and Technology. The Vanguard Awards recognize individuals "For Outstanding Contributions to the Growth and Development of the Cable Television Industry."
In 2009, he was inducted as a Telecom Laureate by the Canada's Telecommunications Hall of Fame.
In his opening remarks - unscripted, off-the-cuff, colourful but always insightful - Switzer also predicted the demise of RF and the rise of IP as the future of telecom networks.
Fibre, of course, will play a huge role, he said, while coax will remain useful as a last mile solution. He noted with interest that the SCTE recently announced a members group for RF radio engineers - urging them to share call letters much like a social media network maven might urge folks to share e-mail address of Facebook pages.
But Switzer urged the young people in the crowd to wean themselves from RF, and move instead to computer technology and associated protocols.
Speaking from his self-described "bully pulpit", Switzer also referenced with interest the recent content vs. carrier spat in the United States (between ABC and Cablevision)
"Is content king?" he asked rhetorically. Yes, he answered, if the program is big enough. The Oscars, the Superbowl, the Olympics, these are world-beater type shows that will rule. "However, ninety per cent of content is not of that category, and the networks that carry them will remain neutral as a result, he said.
As such, the heavy lifting will still be done by the networks, as long haul transportation experts, and the future of cable engineering looks strong enough to the next generation of plumbers.
Switzer was introduced by Fujitsu Network Communications' Kevin Driscoll, following the Official Welcoming remarks delivered by SCTE's Bruce Marshall of Shaw Cable.
Also part of the two-day event, acknowledgment of the industry's next generation: During the day, the SCTE honoured its Young Canadian Engineering Professional of the Year, presenting the award to Sandip Singh of Rogers Communications.
As well, the winner of the SCTE's new Innovation Showcase was elected and announced. The award, voted on by members and attendees, is given to the 'Technology Most Likely to Succeed', as selected from among five nominees.
ARRIS
Motorola
Vecima Networks
Kindsight
Sandvine Corporation
ARRIS was voted the Winning Vendor, and its Moxi PVR was selected.
The conference continues Wednesday, March 10.