The cable industry should adopt a “strategic approach” to energy...

Energy Management Initiative forum in Philadelphia, he said comprehensive energy management strategies are needed to “ensure that the energy requirements of our broadband cable networks will be met in the face of rapidly growing demand.” He cited increased demands for Internet services and higher broadband speeds, as well as increased use of Internet Protocol unicast, HD, 3D and multiplatform video services, business service and such new offerings as security and home monitoring, as factors driving new powering needs for cable operators. Broadcast and cable networks face similar challenges as they seek to deliver new video products, he said. “Given the current course and speed, we are concerned that someday -- certainly not immediately, but foreseeably within the next five to ten years from now -- we will be faced with the reality that our ability to grow will be constrained by the quantity and timing of obtaining electrical power,” Coblitz said. “We cannot let that dependency occur.” Coblitz said cable increasingly is taking advantage of the efficiencies of network-based processing, which can enable reduced power use for consumers while increasing service flexibility for operators. He said power requirements should be a primary consideration in the design, purchase and configuration of equipment, and cited a need for a “fresh look at our power architecture” to ensure service availability. “We simply do not have control over the availability of the energy we will need to sustain our rapid future growth, but what we can control, working together, is how much power we require, and how we can require less than we otherwise would,” Coblitz said.