ATLANTA – It looks like other major North American and international cable operators may soon join Comcast in deploying new cable boxes outfitted with standardized software for IP video set-tops and gateways.
In fact, at least three other large MSOs — Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Liberty Global – either have already committed to rolling out cable boxes equipped with the new Reference Design Kit (RDK) software bundle or are strongly considering doing so over the next year. Speaking at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo Show here earlier this week, leading technologists from all three cable companies expressed great interest about the open-source software stack, even after some early industry concerns that the Comcast-led project might be a “Comcast jamdown.”
Just a month after creating a joint venture with Comcast to promote and manage the development of RDK, Time Warner Cable is gearing up to install the software on all of its new IP set-tops and gateways. The large U.S. MSO views RDK as the “core of next-gen devices” in the home, according to Matthew Zelesko, senior vice president of technology at TWC.
At first, Zelesko said, Time Warner will “target our top customers” for RDK boxes, including subscribers who take multi-room DVR and other advanced video services. The MSO doesn’t plan to stop there, though. “Longer term, we’ll drive RDK everywhere,” he said.
Similarly, Cox and Liberty both seem to be preparing to integrate RDK into their new set-tops and gateways too, even though neither major MSO has yet signed up to license the software for official use. (In Canada, none of the major MSOs have commented officially on RDK, but we hear Rogers is interested in it.)
Liberty Global has already tried out RDK for its rollout of next-gen Horizon IP video gateways, according to Bill Warga, vice president of technology for the giant international MSO. Warga said Liberty, which is now rolling out Horizon gateways in three European markets, is using the software stack to migrate the gateway’s user interface from the set-top to the cloud.
“We saw incredibly good results,” Warga said. “We were pleasantly surprised.” He noted that RDK “sparked our interest” because it could be used to develop code for consistent UIs and apps across set-tops and other video devices, addressing “a common point of frustration” for cable operators
In its test labs, Cox is exploring how much RDK can accelerate the development and deployment of new apps on the MSO’s set-top boxes. Steve Calzone, director of video applications development for the big U.S. MSO, emphasized that his company is still evaluating the software stack but is largely impressed by what it has seen so far.
While RDK is “not an end-to-end cure-all for our applications development,” Calzone said, it is an “open infrastructure” that could help Cox bring new products to market quicker. “It’s a stepping stone to help us move a lot faster,” he said.
Yet the other two MSOs still have concerns about RDK’s viability. For these reasons, neither cable provider has formally committed to be a licensee just yet, although Liberty appears to be awfully close.
Calzone said he’s worried about whether RDK can support “Cox-specific elements” that the MSO has already introduced in its network. In addition, he worries that RDK could “stagnate” like the Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) middleware that CableLabs developed to spur the sale of cable set-tops and cable-ready TVs several years ago, with scant success. Cox is also concerned that there’s no central body to direct lab tests of RDK-enabled gear. RDK Management, the joint venture of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, has decided against playing that role so far. That’s in stark contrast to CableLabs, which performs this role for many of the industry’s new hardware and software products.
“We see what looks to be a gap,” Calzone said. “We’d like to see more of a test and certification capability.”
Executives from Comcast, TWC and RDK Management tried to ease Cox’s concerns. Steve Reynolds, senior vice president of premises technology for Comcast Cable, said the good thing about RDK’s “shared-source” model is that licensees can change the programming code as much as they want. “This is not a standards-making body,” he said. “You vote with your code… You are the masters of your own destiny, right?”
Steve Heeb, president and general manager of RDK Management, agreed with Reynolds. He also said the joint venture will not perform any testing on RDK-equipped gear. However, he added, the joint venture will test the code that it’s developing and managing. Plus, Heeb, who’s also a Comcast executive, said RDK Management will explore ways to make the “test suites” available to all participating cable companies.
– Staff
