The National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) plans to unveil a new name and logo at this year’s The Independent Show, July 24-27, 2022, at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts in Orlando FL. The group also will highlight the new directions on which it has embarked since CEO Lou Borrelli came aboard in May 2021 (see "NCTC appoints new CEO").
Borrelli says that over the past year he has worked to reshape the image of NCTC from the group smaller operators use to acquire video programming to one that provides technologies that enable its more than 700 members to leverage opportunities their combined market power should open to them. For example, NCTC is launching Connectivity Exchange, a national network aggregation and sales platform designed to enable members to bid on large-scale connectivity business by leveraging their infrastructures and those of other NCTC members connected to the exchange. The exchange is being formed through partnerships with exchange operator Connectbase (formerly Connected2Fiber) and Neustar. At the time NCTC announced Connectivity Exchange this past May, NCTC’s members had registered more than 6 million locations with Connectbase.
Borrelli revealed that NCTC also plans to provide a menu of MVNO options to the organization’s members to enable them to add mobile services to their list of offerings. While he did not provide details, Borelli said that menu-based approach is important for NCTC, given the differing market sizes and requirements of its members. He implied that such a menu-based approach could become common going forward for NCTC initiatives.
Overall, Borrelli would like to see NCTC membership recognized as a market force. The members’ combined customer list composes 31% of U.S. households and more than 40 million digital connections, he asserted. That’s a large enough to influence the way the industry moves, he believes – particularly when it comes to technology and engaging with the vendor community to help enable those menu-based approaches.
“Bird dogging” technologies that could be useful to the membership will be part of NCTC’s role in enabling better interaction between the membership and the technology supplier community. “We’re the [tech evaluation] overhead our members can’t afford to have,” Borrelli commented.
On with the show
The organization’s evolution establishes a foundation for the new identity that will be unveiled at The Independent Show. Borrelli declined to predict how many people will attend the event but said that exhibit hall space and sponsorships were sold out and registrations were running ahead of plan.
NCTC co-produces The Independent Show with ACA Connects, which is undergoing changes of its own. The event will mark the public debut of its new president and CEO, Grant Spellmeyer (see "ACA Connects names Grant Spellmeyer as new president and CEO"). Spellmeyer replaces Matt Polka, who had been with the organization for 25 years. Polka will interview Spellmeyer during one of the event sessions.
