Trying to figure out what the stealthy startup Layer3 TV is planning to unleash later this year has become something of a parlor game among pay-TV industry watchers. The VC-backed company, founded in Boston by two cable-industry veterans but now headquartered in Denver, has said little about its plans beyond its goal to become “a next generation cable provider spearheading a new era of home media, combining the best of television, social, and digital life.” How it plans to do that, though, remains a closely guarded secret.

The company’s name — Layer3 — refers to the 7-layer TCP/IP stack, specifically the packet routing layer, which may be a hint. And its two co-founders, Jeff Binder and Dave Fellows, are a couple of confirmed gear-heads. Binder was the founder of VOD systems provider Broadbus Technologies, which was sold to Motorola in 2006, while Fellows is a former CTO at Comcast and AT&T Broadband. So it’s reasonable to assume that whatever Layer3 is planning will leverage existing cable-cum-broadband plant.

The announcement of a second-round of funding in June that raised $51 million offered further hints.

“Cable television may have dominated the business press this year but consumers continue to crave a simple, yet elegant, solution for managing the newest innovations in video, social and digital,” Binder said in a statement. “Layer3 TV is the new cable — putting subscribers at the center of the universe by giving them seamless control of their entertainment relationships.” Read More »