It’s been less than two years since the iPad arrived in stores, and in that short time, cable and telecom operators have been struggling with delivering compelling experiences to the four-screen universe of tablets, smartphones, PCs and TVs.

As if TV Everywhere (bringing your cable subscription to any screen) wasn’t enough of a challenge, multiscreen voice and communications is now being heralded as the “missed trend of 2011”.   Skype, Voxer, FaceTime, ooVoo and Google Voice all now threaten to do to voice, what Netflix, Hulu, HBO-to-GO and others are doing to video.

In response, cable and telecom operators have gone “app” crazy.   Most have launched between five and ten separate apps to get their video and voice services to android and iOS devices, and even game-terminals like XBOX.   The result is a collection of disjointed user experiences, app-confusion, and flaky software.  In short, a multiscreen mess.

What happens when a $100 billion industry needs to change a single-screen experience paradigm to a multiscreen one, almost overnight?  Just ask AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner.  With antiquated systems, and silo organizations, this isn’t an easy thing to do… but they’re trying.  After all, their future depends on it.

At this week’s METal, we will review the real impact and opportunity that mobile device proliferation and changing user behavior is having across video, voice and messaging – and how your phone and cable companies are poised to react, and fight against over-the-top players that threaten their very core.