Emerging markets will drive growth in cable penetration worldwide, opening up new opportunities in lucrative markets for service providers, with revenues reaching $50 billion in 2017, according to new research from ABI Research.
Offering higher speeds than DSL, the adoption of DOCSIS 3.0 has given the cable industry a key competitive edge over telcos offering only DSL service in the developed markets of the U.S., Canada and parts of Western Europe, according to ABI. Cable service providers have successfully leveraged and focused on this in their marketing efforts, particularly when it comes to advanced services, such as video streaming, and installation of multiple devices in the home, which “has encouraged consumers to upgrade to higher bandwidth tiers,” commented ABI Senior TV & Video Analyst Adarsh Krishnan.
Moreover, cable operators are looking to keep the momentum going. They’re now working with technology providers on the next generation of “bandwidth-hogging” DOCSIS services, which includes 3DTV and 4K video resolution.
The next version, DOCSIS 3.1, focuses on improving upload speeds, ABI notes. “Intel has demonstrated its Puma 6 modem achieving 1 Gbps downlink using 24 channels, while Arris has tied together 12 modems to achieve 4.7 Gbps downlink,” elaborated Sam Rosen, ABI practice director of TV & video.
Cable service operators in emerging markets are looking to leapfrog older network protocols by using the latest broadband technologies as they enter developing markets. Combining traditional cable, broadband services and digital VoIP gives them a “triple-play offering that has attracted a large number of consumers,” according to ABI.
China accounted for 57% of cable subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region as of last year, with the Chinese government investing in cable digitization and promoting cooperation between TV broadcasters, telecom carriers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
These findings form part of ABI’s Broadband CPE Research Service, which offers analysis and outlooks for operator network deployments, consumer adoption and cable broadband service revenues globally.
