CES Announcements Signal Secure Future for OCAP

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, the biggest cable television operators in the USA announced OCAP launches for 2006 leading to nationwide deployments by mid-2009. Developed by CableLabs in cooperation with the DVB Project, and with GEM (Globally Executable MHP) at its core, OCAP will ensure that common interactive applications can be delivered to set-top boxes and cable-ready televisions across the country.

Time Warner Cable has announced that in 2006 it will begin the deployment of OCAP in headends serving five markets â including their largest operation in New York City – representing a combined customer base of about 2.5 million consumers. Another major cable company, Comcast, also announced that deployments wouuld begin in 2006 and across the whole network within the next few years

Similar announcements came from other cable companies including Cox, Cablevision and Charter.  There is general agreement amongst the cable industry in the USA that OCAP holds represents the best opportunity to compete with satellite providers.