Powered by TMCnet
 
| More

Cable Technology Feature Article

December 20, 2011

The Year Ahead - with Aurora's John Dahlquist

By Paula Bernier, Executive Editor, TMC


TMCnet recently asked some of the leading lights in the industry for their thoughts about 2011 and what’s in store for the year ahead.

Here’s what John Dahlquist, vice president of marketing at Aurora Networks, had to say.

What was your company’s greatest achievement in 2011?
Dahlquist: In 2011 we continued to demonstrate our dedication in helping cable operators succeed and gain subscribers through our innovative product lines – counting the release of our Universal Digital Return Platform and our first acquisitions (GoBackTV (News - Alert) and Trident7 product line) as our shining stars of the year. The Universal Digital Return Platform, announced at this year’s Cable Show, provides operators with a flexible and cost-effective solution to expand their upstream bandwidth capacity.

By utilizing the recently reclaimed broadcast television spectrum the Universal Digital Return module expands the upstream bandwidth to 5-85mHz, doubling today’s standard North America standard offering. Both acquisitions have enabled us to provide further support for operators in their quest to both offer more revenue-producing services and migration to an all-IP network.

Specifically, in conjunction with the expertise we acquired through GoBackTV, we announced the industry’s very first node QAM (a distributed edge QAM). The Trident7 technology greatly complements our FTTP portfolio as it not only caters to emerging services such as IP and OTT video, but also provides operators with a direct pathway to deliver high-speed data for commercial and residential services.

What are your business’s goals for 2012? 
Dahlquist: As we enter 2012 with 22 consecutive quarters of profitability under our belt, we will continue to lean on our strong business development team to seek out new opportunities that will continue to enable Aurora Networks to serve as the No. 1 optical transport provider that is focused on next-generation solutions for operators.

If there’s one thing you’d like to see happen related to business in the year ahead, what is that one thing?
Dahlquist: As we look forward to the year ahead, we will continue to remain active on the acquisition trail, seeking opportunities that allow us to further strengthen cable’s role as it relates to the tides of the industry. In particular, we would like to see continued product advancements and innovations that further strengthen the position of cable in today’s big growth areas – such as the commercial services space.

If 2011 was the year of cloud and/or the year of the tablet, 2012 will be the year of the... 
Dahlquist: Cloud for cable, as the cable industry is moving toward a cloud solution. In this economy, cable companies are finding that the cloud is faster and cheaper, therefore the industry is transforming from the traditional cable TV platform into a connected technology platform. So the ability to deliver increased bandwidth and real-time content to multiple devices is paramount in order to further strengthen cable’s position itself as leader in today’s innovative technology race.





Edited by Jennifer Russell