WASHINGTON, D.C. – The many ways in which high-speed broadband service has and will continue to improve the lives of Americans will be featured in a unique special exhibit titled “Broadband Nation” during the U.S. cable industry’s annual convention this coming April in Washington, D.C. 

Broadband Nation will be the centerpiece on the exhibition floor at The Cable Show ’09, the 58th Annual Convention and International Exposition of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), April 1-3, 2009, at the Washington D.C. Convention Center.  Comcast, the nation's largest residential broadband provider and the leading provider in the DC area, will provide the broadband network to power the exhibits at the Convention Center.   

The 22,000 square foot exhibit, designed and decorated in a “Main Street America” theme, will focus on how consumers throughout the nation – whether in urban, suburban or rural environments – are benefiting from the wide-scale deployment of cable’s high-speed broadband service.  Cable today makes high-speed broadband available to 92 percent of U.S. households, or 120 million homes.

Broadband Nation will provide visitors a hands-on opportunity to experience a variety of innovative products and services available to consumers today – and in the future – for the home, school, and office.  It will also feature some specialized technology applications available for medical centers, retail stores and entertainment outlets, among others.

“The cable industry is currently starting deployment of ultra fast broadband service to residential and small and medium sized enterprises.  We fully expect that as much as broadband has already changed our lives, there is much, much more right around the corner.  Broadband Nation seeks to capture in tangible ways how broadband enhances the everyday life of Americans, and how it can it help improve healthcare, education, and other important social goals,” said Kyle McSlarrow, NCTA President & CEO.

NCTA is joining with Comcast, NCTA member companies, and other technology vendors to bring an array of broadband-enabled products to life – all from the prospective of the consumer or “end user.”  A partial list of planned demonstrations includes:

• Advanced Network Monitoring and Operations
• Next Generation High-speed Data
• Tru2way Interactive Television and Enhanced Television Applications
• Voice over IP solutions
• Enterprise Video, Voice and High-speed Data
• Networked Home Technologies
• Broadband-enabled Home Appliances
• Home Automation and Control
• Home Security and Monitoring
• WiMAX Mobile Broadband
• Advanced Videoconferencing Systems
• Telehealth/Telemedicine Systems and Services
• Portable Media -- Time-shifting/Place-shifting Technologies
• 3D Television
• Social Networking
• Online Video Gaming

Broadband Nation is being produced in cooperation with Williams/Gerard Productions and several technology and content vendors.  Several companies are playing a critical role in production of the exhibit:

• Advanced Digital Broadcast, Inc. will demonstrate the  ADB-4820C certified tru2way Set-back box which mounts behind a flat screen TV;
• Aurora Networks will deploy its RF Over Glass (RFOG) fiber-to-the-home solution to bring the full complement of Comcast cable services to Broadband Nation and the entire DC Convention Center;
• Cisco Systems will demonstrate connected home and enterprise technology products;
• CommScope will provide the wiring for the entire exhibit;
• Comcast Media Center’s HITS AxIS service will demonstrate iTV applications being delivered and managed via its national content distribution platform; and,
• Exceptional Innovation – maker of Life|ware™ whole home automation and entertainment solutions – will connect and control IP enabled systems throughout the home and beyond, leveraging the “connected nation” landscape to demonstrate efficient and innovative consumer uses for broadband.

Additional partners will be announced in coming weeks.  More information, including a list of partners and concept renderings, is available at the Cable Show website at www.thecableshow.com/broadbandnation or by contacting NCTA’s Industry Affairs Department at (202) 222-2430 or via email message to Industryexhibit@ncta.com. 

Additional, up-to-the-minute information for The Cable Show ’09 is available at www.thecableshow.com.  For more information about exhibit space at The Cable Show ’09, contact NCTA Convention Headquarters at (202) 463-7905 or e-mail exhibitinfo@ncta.com.

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