DOCSIS 3 could keep cable modems competitive with fibre

By Stephen Withers
Thursday, 10 May 2007 11:44

Technology

Comcast's demonstration of a prototype DOCSIS 3 cable modem this week illustrates the speeds that could be available to at least some consumers in the next couple of years even if FTTN or FTTH rollouts do not proceed.
The new modems, expected in 2008 or 2009, can be used to deliver 150 Mbps to customers. This is achieved by combining multiple channels on the cable into a single service. The demonstration at The Cable Show 07 in Las Vegas showed the contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica 2007 and the Merriam-Webster's visual dictionary (comprising 55 million words, more than 22,000 pictures and more than 400 video clips) being downloaded in less than four minutes.

The fibre equipment being proposed to Australian carriers by Ericsson would deliver around 50Mbps per household if a 2.5Gbps GPON connection was split between 32 premises using either FTTH or a VDSL2 FTTN setup. Looking further ahead, FTTH offers the prospect of higher speeds if it was shared between fewer customers or when GPON speeds increase. Ericsson officials predict FTTN would only last a few years before the demand for bandwidth drove an upgrade to FTTH.

In the US, cable companies and telcos compete to provide Internet, phone and pay TV services. In Australia, the two main cable networks are owned by the two largest telcos, so the competitive tension is significantly different. Any decision to upgrade the cable networks for higher speed (Telstra's BigPond currently offers up to 17Mbps and OptusNet up to 9.9Mbps) would presumably be driven by relative costs and expected revenues rather than a pressing need to attract or retain customers.

iTWire asked BigPond and OptusNet about their plans (if any) to move to DOCSIS 3. Telstra spokesperson Craig Middleton said "we are always looking at options for increasing the speed of our networks, including the HFC [hybrid fibre coaxial] network," but Telstra is not committing to the adoption of DOCSIS 3, let alone giving any indication of when that could happen. This article will be updated if and when we hear from Optus.