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commentary SCTE in focus Welcome to the November 2016 issue of Broadband Journal!

Welcome to the November 2016 issue of Broadband Journal which will be distributed at Convergence India, the FTTH event (France) and DVB Forum (Austria). You can meet us at all these events. SCTE members are strongly encouraged to apply for bursaries (flights, accommodation and entrance paid by the SCTE and its partners) for the FTTH 2017 conference and exhibition (Marseille), DVB World 2017 (Vienna), ANGA COM 2017 (Cologne) and IBC 2017 (Amsterdam) plus the Spring and Autumn 2017 lectures in London. See page 5 for further details. This year, SCTE India has moved from strength to strength – it has formed a new Governing Council and is launching its own technology journal for the Indian market (see page 8). In this issue, one of its founder members, Colonel Vinod Khare, discusses the development of Cable TV in India (page 16). SCTE India’s Honorary National Secretary, Rahul Nehra, also analyses the status of India’s digitisation pathway on page 12. Meet SCTE India at next year’s Convergence India ( 8-10 February 2017 ) on stand E33 in Hall 12A. Nominations are now being sought for the 2017 SCTE Technological Innovation Awards and 2017 SCTE Individual Achievement Awards, which will be presented at the SCTE Gala Awards Dinner on 17 June 2017 at Draper’s Hall in

London. The best overall submission will receive the SCTE 2017 Technological Innovation of the Year Award. The deadline for entries is 28 February 2017 (see page 6). The Society offers its members several discounted offers on a regular basis, ranging from 20-30% attendance discounts at international broadband conferences and events around the world to special PR packages and training discounts. These special offers are e-blasted to all SCTE members regularly. Join us today by emailing office@thescte.eu 2016 has been a busy year for the Society but it is with sadness that we say goodbye to a valued member, Ray Seacombe, whose obituary is below. We wish you all the very best for 2017 and will catch up with you again in the New Year.

Sara Waddington Managing Editor

SCTE, Society for Broadband Professionals E-mail: sara.waddington@theSCTE.eu Website: www.theSCTE.eu

InMemory of R J (Ray) Seacombe HFSCTE

the SCTE Executive Committee in 1966, remaining on the Committee until 1995. This represented some 30 years of valuable service to the Society, including two terms as President in 1971 and 1987. For most of his time with the SCTE, Ray served on the international standards committees and chaired the British Standards Committee for Cable Networks. Ray also regularly lectured and wrote excellent technical articles for the SCTE during his time on the Committee and also designed the original SCTE ‘bowtie’ logo. In 2004, Ray was awarded the SCTE Tom Hall Award for his outstanding contribution to the cable industry. In all, Ray made a considerable contribution to the Society and his legacy is the continuing high standards which he helped the Society to achieve.

Our friend and colleague, Ray Seacombe, sadly passed away on 19 October 2016 at the age of 82. Ray had a long and successful career in the cable television industry. After leaving South East

Essex Technical College, Ray worked in the surface coating industry before spending three years in the RAF as an air radar fitter. Ray became involved in cable when he

joined Teleng Ltd in 1958 as a planning engineer and where he eventually rose to chief systems engineer. In 1968, he joined Rediffusion Engineering as a liaison engineer and then British Relay (subsequently Visionhire) in 1974, rising to become chief engineer. Ray spent some time with BT in the Broadband Services Division before joining City Centre Cable and CUC Cablevision in the early 1990s. Ray first joined the SCTE in 1961 and was elected onto

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Vol. 38 No. 4 - November 2016 Issue