The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) has announced that, for the second year in a row, it will hold its flagship SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in an all-virtual format in 2021.
The show's organizers cited concerns about attendee health and safety due to COVID-19 and the impact of international travel restrictions for the decision.
The SCTE did not indicate how the move online will affect the show program but promised “[m]ore information will be forthcoming.”
“Our industry rose to the challenge over the past year and a half to keep the world connected safely throughout the pandemic. We are continuing that pledge now by presenting Cable-Tec Expo as a virtual experience,” commented Mark Dzuban, SCTE president and CEO.
As of the all-virtual event's announcement on Sept. 10, the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo website continued to list October 11-14 as the show dates. The SCTE show organizers planned to support virtual attendance this year and so urged those who have yet to register to do so and select the virtual attendance option.
The move to virtual last year significantly broadened participation, the SCTE asserts. The group posted on the Cable-Tec Expo website that attendance doubled versus 2019 and the number of countries represented grew from 69 to 214.
SCTE's Dzuban added, “As a virtual event last year, Cable-Tec Expo had the largest level of engagement we have ever seen and we look forward to that same level of connection, innovation, and education in October.”
The Expo move to virtual came roughly a week after cable broadband industry groups NCTC and ACA Connects announced that the Independent Show, scheduled for the week before Expo, would transform into a strictly online event as well.
