We haven t found any communities that haven t fully accepted the new services, he adds. In the decision whether to consolidate, interconnect or shut down a headend, demographics and economies of scale count big time. What the system is designed to do telephony, data, advanced services is where it gets really specific and drives the headend process. It s very application specific, says Mike Wortel, director of product management for the headend division of Scientific-Atlanta. Yet the lingering issues of labor, materials and equipment shortages are always top of mind for companies such as Middle America Cox.
Contract labor is very difficult.
It hasn t slowed us up to this point, but it s a constant battle. We re on a waiting list of several months for fiber, Goad says. Despite on-going concerns over labor and materials shortages, the consolidation and interconnection of headends, especially in rural markets, is the method of choice for most MSOs and smaller cable operators. Interconnecting headends is the way to go. We re looking at it already with just 7,000 subscribers, says Ben Hooks, CEO of Buford Media Group, a small multi-service provider in Texas.