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Liberty Global CTO, Balan Nair

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) has added Liberty Global to its Corporate Alliance Programme, expanding the alliance internationally for the first time.

Liberty is the seventh operator to join the alliance programme and the first that operates outside the US. The other six members are Cablevision Systems, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Comcast, Suddenlink and Time Warner Cable.

At the same time, SCTE today also announced the creation of the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), a global brand for training and certification resources to cable engineering and operations professionals around the world.

“Consumer demand for next-generation services is driving the need for increased training and certification for our technical workforce. The International Society of Broadband Experts’ ability to leverage SCTE resources will make available new training that is aligned with our operational needs,” said Balan Nair, executive vice president and CTO of Liberty Global.

SCTE’s Corporate Alliance Program is designed to let operators of all sizes jointly address industry issues and develop solutions and prepare for emerging technologies. It is also aimed at expanding access to training and education.

The ISBE will serve as an international gateway to SCTE’s library of educational and certification resources. Its aim is to eliminate existing brand confusion and provide a single, unified source of training materials to the cable community.

SCTE said that materials that will be available through ISBE are created in conjunction with cable operators in the United States and other markets worldwide, and are aligned with the global activity of CableLabs.