Why Cable is Cool
How It Works
Cable is a single word describing a broad range of communications capabilities and the infrastructure that supports them. And while physical cables are essential components of a cable communications system, there’s a lot more to “cable” than the cable itself.
A typical cable company like the one in your community operates as a collection and distribution center for all sorts of media and communications experiences. TV channels, email messages, phone calls and videos flow into the cable system from a variety of outside sources. To gather in TV channels, for instance, your cable company relies on banks of large satellite receiving dishes that receive signals beamed from outer space by TV networks. To get an email message to your computer, your cable company connects to the public Internet and routes your message over the same physical lines that carry your TV channels. Phone calls over cable work in a similar way. Think of the cable system in your area as a giant funnel: It grabs a tremendous amount of content from a variety of sources, and routes precisely what you want to you through a network of optical fiber lines, wires, wireless stations, connectors and devices.
Behind the scenes is an astonishing collection of electronics gear, information management systems, digital communications technology and in-home receiving equipment that make it all work seamlessly every time you turn on the television set, pick up the telephone or log on to the Internet. But the most important ingredient isn’t technology. It’s people. It takes a serious, coordinated effort by lots of people to run a cable company, from the installers who connect your home equipment to the engineers who plan and build the facilities. Cable, uniquely, remains a local communications medium that relies on the skills and talent of local employees to keep things running smoothly.
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