But Verimatrix, Oetegennac knowledges, won't be competing directly with that duopoly or targeting major MSOs like Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC - message board). Instead, it will seek out situations in which cable operators are looking to migrate from analog video delivery to an IP-based services structure that leverages the existing Docsis architecture, coupled with CMTS bypass techniques.

    "Operators canuse Verimatrix for IPTV in a modified form in the cable space. That's where we see our market opportunities," Oetegenn says.

    And those opportunities are just beginning to take root. Oetegenn notes that two of Verimatrix's telephony customers in North American have agreed to trial the new product. Among them is a local phone company that also operates some cable plant and uses the Docsis architecture to deliver high-speed Internet services.

    He says the solution is developing some inroads in Latin America, where it has teamed up with IPTV Americas , which specializes in delivering IP video technologies to telcos in the region.

    GoBackTV, mean while,hassome CMTS and edge QAM activity happening in Europe, including some work with French MSO Numéricable and a CMTS bypass deployment with BKG-Neuruppin of Brandenburg, Germany. (See MSO Tests CMTS Bypass.)

    GoBackTV is made up of several former execs of Com21 Inc., a cable modem and CMTS vendor that went bankrupt in 2003. GoBackTV purchased the digital video assets of Com21 in the fall of 2003 for an undisclosed sum.