ANGA Cable Show 2011 - Cologne, May 3-5

A breakthrough in television! Anga Cable Show in Cologne, Germany - the "Europe's leading Trade Fair for Cable, Broadband and Satellite" - attracts exhibitors from the telecommunications and media industry. The industry is among the fastest growing branches of modern technology. However, this year's offer was a big surprise for analysts of the market.

The real winner of this year's Anga Cable has been Hybrid TV. The other two places on the podium were taken by IPTV and Next Generation Network (NGN).
The central themes for this year's fair were: Hybrid TV, IPTV and OTT.
Among the multimedia systems for television there must have been Google accents.
Several exhibitors have presented SmartTV solution based on Android 2.3
The distribution of TV content in IP networks has become a reality, the Continental HbbTV and British YouView are commercial projects based on this technology.
Hybrid TV is an interactive platform combining digital television and the Internet, enabling the reception of satellite, terrestrial and cable TV channels, as well as access to new services such as video on demand (VoD), interactive games, electronic newspapers, YouTube videos, photo albums. The service gives the users an additional flexibility - access to all the programs from the latest week. The television programs and new services will be selected via thematic portals (as the websites on the Internet today), offering much greater choice than the current programming of TV channels. Hybrid TV changes the traditional, passive model of providing content to an active model, where the viewers decide what they want to watch and when.
There were many exhibitors promoting hybrid TV solutions, which take the TV market by storm. The discussions at the stands and the talks and lectures given by professionals lead us to a conclusion that the traditional television broadcasting combined with Internet technology in the way developed by the broadcasters will shape the future of television.
IPTV is blooming. The conversion of digital TV broadcasting standards (DVB-S/S2, DVB-C/C2, DVB-T/T2) to IP protocol allows the operators to add a number of interactive services.
IPTV services enter hospitals, hotels and other institutions and businesses, offering a variety of content and additional functions. However, the further development of these services requires a wider access to broadband networks in the "last mile". The exhibitors presented solutions to this problem, which was also the subject of the ANGA Cable Congress. There is general agreement that the future belongs to fiber optic access networks, however a serious competitor will remain DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) cable networks. Mobile TV will exploit the potential of LTE (Long Term Evolution).

Interestingly, the third dimension of television - 3D HDTV - was only a minor subject.
Many manufacturers presented solutions and products compliant with RFoG. The Radio Frequency over Glass is a technique for transmitting high-frequency signals over fiber optic medium.
Several companies showed fiber optic equipment for SMATV systems. A new solution was the simultaneous transmission and distribution of satellite and DVB-T signals with the use of a single fiber.
Terra company presented effective solutions for SMATV systems based on multiswitches. There were some new developments as well: a series of digitally tunable dual-channel amplifiers and modulators, and new components for the MMH-3000 headend, among other things for converting DVB signals to ASI (Asynchronous Serial Interface) and then to IP packets. The company also did not forget about smaller antenna systems, showing new lines of RF amplifiers (Cabrio) and modulators (VSB models).
One of the solutions presented by Televes was the T. OX platform dedicated to the German market. The last analog satellite transponder for Germany will be switched off in April 2012. It was much discussed at the Anga fair. A lot of counters remind the public about the date, among them the Technisat down counter.
Opportunity to drive the F1 racing car was undoubtedly one of the major attractions for the visitors.
There were many who tried their hands at it, but the winner was ... Nick Heidfeld
Anga Cable Show 2011 was held in Cologne in May 3-5. Anga Cable is a unique trade fair which has grown in significance over the last decade, in spite of the decreasing trend in the case of similar events in the world.
Also this year, the number of exhibitors increased by more than 6% (a total of 420 exhibitors from 34 countries), resulting in the need to reorganize the logistics of the fair. For the first time in the history of the event, the fair was held at two levels of the Koeln Messe exhibition center, and the exhibition area increased by 15% compared to last year.
The scale and ingenuity of some attractions prepared by the exhibitors could satisfy the taste of even the most demanding visitors. For example, each guest of the Unitymedia stand (the company being one of the sponsors of the fair) had the opportunity to drive a Formula 1 racing car, and - in the virtual experience - he or she could compete with a true star of the sport - Nick Heidfeld.
The organizers, confident of the success of the show in the future, just now invite exhibitors and visitors to the next edition - ANGA Cable 2012, to be held between May 24 and 26.