I got word last week that the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) may be relaxing some of its membership rules to allow IPTV providers to join. NCTC is one of the original aggregators of video content. Small cable companies formed NCTC to pool subscriber counts and get access to programming at rates that they could not get on their own. NCTC’s legacy has historically been tied to small cable companies. In the past ten years, small telephone companies wanted in on the video action as well and began joining NCTC to get access to cheaper programming. But those same telcos also competed with NCTC’s historical membership. The scuttlebutt is that the competitive threat posed by telcos caused NCTC to institute a new member moratorium in 2005. That moratorium created an opening for more telco focused content aggregators including NRTC and Telechannel.

Word now is NCTC is revisiting the moratorium. Telephony Online asked my opinion of this development, for which I commented that I wouldn’t be surprised if they allowed IPTV providers into the membership. NCTC, like any organization, needs sustainable growth, and telcos represent that growth. This issue is far from resolved and NCTC is being very vague about exactly what their new membership rules will be. I suspect that many NCTC members wouldn’t be keen on relaxing the moratorium, which creates somewhat of a conundrum for the organization itself. Keep existing members happy with the status quo, or think long term and open your doors to a growing market segment. Makes for some interesting board meetings I’m sure.

There are two events we’re involved with that are squarely focused on these and other telcoTV and IPTV issues. First is the TelcoTV Conference and Expo, coming up in November in Anaheim. TelcoTV is the premier event for the discussion of issues like this, and offers the largest solely focused exhibition of telcoTV solution providers of any conference in North America. Second, is a webcast we’re hosting on Thursday Sept. 11th, IPTV Content: Putting the Pieces in Place, sponsored by Avail Media. We’ll be discussing the importance of IPTV content and clarifying the different content rights issues. We’ll also have representatives from ESPN and Wealth TV to share their views on these important issues. I hope you can join us for both.

Time Warner Cable announced the launch of VOD in some of its smaller markets including Clarksburg, WV; Dothan, AL; Fort Benning, GA; and Terre Haute, IN. Time Warner will be using a new Tandberg VOD solution which is aimed at markets needing 2000 VOD streams or less. The new Tandberg system allows the local distribution of VOD content married with a centralized management function. Time Warner will manage all of these small market VOD deployments from Colorado.

The expansion of VOD into smaller markets is inevitable. VOD offers a competitive advantage for terrestrial based operators like Time Warner and others over DBS. The challenge has been scaling VOD platforms down to serve the thousands of smaller markets across the country. Independent cable operators represented by the NCTC and small IPTV operators are hungry for applications like VOD Solutions like this one from Tandberg and similar solutions from C-Cor and Comcast Media Center should garner much interest from the thousands of small independent cable and telco video operators across the U.S., all of whom are looking for ways to remain competitive.

According to a Multichannel News report, the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) is in discussions with Sprint to resell wireless service. NCTC executive vice president Scott Abbott noted that the discussions are very early on and no deal is imminent. It is unclear whether such a potential arrangement would be an extension of the Pivot Wireless initiative, or just a straight resale arrangement for Sprint services. Like their larger cable TV brethren, small independent cable companies want in on wireless. They recognize that the current battles with telecom are only going to become more intense, and offering wireless may prove to be a necessary component to effectively compete.

It should come as no surprise that the NCTC is talking with Sprint about wireless resale. Sprint has long partnered with NCTC member companies, acting as a wholesale VoIP/telephony provider for voice services option. Extending that relationship to wireless is only natural. An interesting question is about branding. If the Pivot wireless brand begins to gain traction nationally and sees some success, than extending that brand to independent cable companies could be of great value to them. Wireless is one of those services where a local brand may not provide as much value as a more nationally recognized brand. It’s very difficult to compete against a Verizon Wireless or T-Mobile brand on a local level, when those companies spend billions of dollars (collectively) on marketing and brand recognition. Wireless may be one of the few services where it makes sense to align one’s self with a national brand. That being said, there are a number of pitfalls in doing that. Finding the right relationship is difficult. In a near perfect world, a small local operator wants to control their own network and customer relationships, while also leveraging that national brand recognition. Such a relationship is hard to come by, and NCTC will be challenged to negotiate a deal that make preferred terms a reality.