WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), announced today that the U.S. cable industry will sponsor the 85th IETF meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 4–9, 2012. The event sponsorship will be shared by some of the nation's leading broadband providers, including Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems Corp., Charter Communications, and Cox Communications, along with Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs®) and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). The announcement was made today in Prague, Czech Republic, as part of the ongoing 80th IETF meeting.

The IETF is a large, open, consensus-based international community of Internet engineers concerned with the evolution of the Internet's architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual. The organization's stated mission is to make the Internet work better by producing high-quality, relevant technical documents that influence the way people design, use and manage the Internet.

"The entire Internet ecosystem clearly benefits from open standards, which are developed in consensus-based, open and self-governing bodies like the Internet Engineering Task Force," said Dr. William Check, CTO and SVP, Science and Technology, NCTA. "That's why we're pleased to note that the U.S. cable industry will be sponsoring the 85th meeting of the IETF, bringing together over one thousand of the best and brightest Internet engineers from around the world, and demonstrating cable's support for to current and future Internet standards."

"In addition to the existing liaison relationship between the IETF and CableLabs, which recognizes the importance of interoperability of the CableLabs specifications with the existing Internet, numerous cable engineers participate in IETF through working group contributions," added Ralph W. Brown, CTO of CableLabs. "The IETF is the place where Internet protocols are developed with the technical excellence that has produced high-quality standards for the benefits of all Internet users," Brown added.

Further information about the IETF and upcoming meetings can be accessed at www.ietf.org.

NCTA is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks. The cable industry is the nation's largest broadband provider of high-speed Internet access, serving more than 43 million customers, after investing more than $170 billion to build two-way interactive networks with fiber optic technology. Cable companies also provide state-of-the-art digital telephone service to more than 23 million American consumers.

About CableLabs: Cable Television Laboratories (www.cablelabs.com) was founded in 1988 by members of the cable television industry. A non-profit research and development consortium, CableLabs delivers innovations that enable cable operators to be the providers of choice in their markets. Cable operators from around the world are members. CableLabs maintains additional web sites at www.cablenet.org.

CableLabs® is a registered trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Other CableLabs marks are listed at http://www.cablelabs.com/certqual/trademarks. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.