Telecompetitor

A primary goal of DOCSIS 3.0 is to dramatically increase the bandwidth capacity of cable modem broadband, making it a respectable alternative to FTTH competitors. And while ultra fast speeds of 50 Mbps (and even 100 Mbps) are often mentioned when discussing it, DOCSIS 3.0’s initial impact will be felt at much lower speeds. For example, BroadbandReports.com is reporting that Comcast is slowly rolling out speeds ...

Second quarter results for broadband growth were a tad underwhelming. There are any number of factors which probably contributed to this slowdown, with the economic slowdown and housing crisis certainly towards the top of the list. But growth is also slowing because broadband penetration has grown considerably over the past few years, now ranging somewhere between 50% to 60% (depending on who you ask), and is beginning to slow down. There certainly ...

RCN is looking to wideband to keep up with its competitors, which include Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon. RCN is a scrappy overbuilder, and is often the third triple play option in many Northeast markets including Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Its competitors have announced the move to DOCSIS 3.0, or in Verizon’s case, utilize FTTH. Speaking from a bandwidth perspective, RCN ...

Verizon used the NXTComm conference to announce the expansion of their 50 Mbps broadband service for their entire FiOS footprint. Verizon says the ultra fast broadband service, which also includes a 20 Mbps upload speed, will be available to 10 million homes. The increases in speed also include 20/20, 20/5, and 10/2 Mbps FiOS plans as well. "The Verizon ...

Comcast is launching its first DOCSIS 3.0, or “wideband” market this week in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The new broadband service will offer 50 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload speeds for $150/month with a $3/month cable modem rental fee. DOCSIS 3.0 has the capability to go to 100 Mbps and beyond, but Comcast believes that much speed is unnecessary for right now. Comcast is also increasing its ...

Apparently FTTH is not enough. Verizon wants FTTH on steroids. Hence their announcement today that they are moving to a GPON architecture for future FiOS build outs. All jokes aside, the move is a prudent one. If you’re going to spend billions on a FTTH network, why not utilize the best technology available. GPON expands the capabilities of their previous FiOS technology, ...

Who needs FTTH when DOCSIS 3.0 can deliver 100 Mbps. Maybe those discussions are going on internally to Comcast, who announced they are pulling the trigger on 3.0 in 20% of their markets by the end of 2008. Light Reading’s Cable Digital News is reporting that Comcast’s chief technology officer Tony Werner revealed these DOCSIS 3.0 plans at the CableNEXT ...

If you ask iSuppli, an El Segundo, CA based market research firm, telecom FTTH deployments like Verizon FiOS are a serious threat to cable MSOs. In a recently released research report, Steve Rago, principal analyst for networking and optical communications with iSuppli Corp. says “FTTH poses a real threat to the MSOs, potentially rendering today’s cable television infrastructure obsolete.” iSuppli ...

Comcast CTO Tony Werner discussed their DOCSIS 3.0 plans with Multichannel News, and commented that it will be a natural evolution of cable modem technology. Werner didn’t offer any specific launch timelines, but did say the so called ‘wideband’ technology is very close to trials at Comcast. DOCSIS 3.0 is the next generation of cable modem which allows the bonding of 6 Mhz ...

Light Reading is reporting that CableLabs is developing an OpenCable initiative which utilizes DOCSIS 3.0 to empower IP applications to cable set top boxes. The main advantage that DOCSIS 3.0 brings is the ability to bond RF channels, which results in a robust bandwidth pipe that can support a variety of IP applications, including IP multicast and ...