Government-Education-Medical (GEM), the original commercial vertical sector mantra for the cable industry, has served operators very well over the years, given their point-to-point services and dense local footprints. Although these segments are not yet fully penetrated, cable's segmentation and targeting are evolving with growth opportunities emerging in some unexpected areas, such as agribusiness and e-gaming, to name two...

Cable operators and other broadband service providers have important strategic assets that they can further monetize -- generating new sources of revenue. Let's start with the facilities...

Cable operators and other broadband service providers may grouse loudly about the growing loss of their edge services business to OTT (over-the-top) entrants. But, ironically enough, the main enablers of these new entrants have been the operators themselves. Let me explain why by starting with a little history...

Cable has entertained the masses with video packages for decades. But everything has changed. MSOs are now ISPs, first and foremost. High-speed data rules the roost. It has become the enabler to video competition. Over-the-top (OTT) companies have cracked the code and ride virtually free while getting paid for subscriptions and lucrative advertising deals...