Bloomer Telephone is among the early service providers deploying the Calix 700G ONTs. According to Jim Smart, general manager with the Wisconsin-based IOC, “We face an entrenched cable competitor with a strong broadband product offering. Deploying a fiber-based outside plant that requires no powering and delivers 2.5 Gbps of IP-based bandwidth gives us a low-cost, high-capacity foundation that will allow us to significantly surpass this competitor.”
Calix announces the general availability of the 700G gigabit passive optical network optical network terminals. This expansion to the Calix 700-Series family of ITU G.984-compliant 2.5 Gbps GPON ONTs adds Gigabit Ethernet subscriber-side interfaces, enabling telcos to trump cable operators in terms of the bandwidth they can deliver to their customers. The 700G ONTs allow telcos to offer peak downstream rates of up to one thousand megabits per second, compared to 160 megabits per second for the as-yet-undeployed DOCSIS 3.0. Measured in terms of average or sustained bandwidth—a much more relevant comparison—telcos can deliver up to 80 megabits per second per subscriber in typical configurations versus a pedestrian 640 kilobits per second for DOCSIS 3.0-enabled cable operators using 250-home nodes. This represents an enormous 122-to-1 downstream bandwidth advantage for telcos with a similar differential in terms of increasingly important upstream bandwidth.
source: tvover.net
As an industry leader, TANDBERG Television has a wealth of experience in developing advanced video delivery solutions for cable architectures. Featuring up to 96 QAM channels in an integrated two rack-unit chassis for superior density, the EQ8096 provides cable operators with the flexibility to launch a combination of switched digital video, video-on-demand, broadcast television or high-speed data services simultaneously in shared frequencies.
TANDBERG Television announces its universal Edge QAM, the EQ8096, has received a 4-Diamond rating in the Broadband Gear Report’s prestigious 2008 Diamond Technology Reviews. BGR’s Diamond Technology Reviews program provides an objective annual technology and product review for the broadband community and recognizes achievements in product innovation. The independent judging panel, which included senior engineering executives from Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, rated TANDBERG Television’s EQ8096 to be an excellent product with technical features and performance that provide clear and substantial benefits.
The TANDBERG EQ8096 universal Edge QAM offers unprecedented density, high reliability, low power consumption, and designed-in redundancy features. It enables a clear migration to IP through its support of the CableLabs DOCSIS 3.0 and the M-CMTS standards and also supports DVB Common Scrambling Algorithm and SimulCrypt. Additionally, Privacy Mode Encryption provides an added layer of protection and an easy-to-implement content protection system for on-demand services such as VOD. The content protection technologies supported by the EQ8096 benefit both content providers and cable operators by protecting video assets and revenues.
source: tvover.net
Data over Cable Service Interface Specifications is an extensive set of specifications developed by CableLabs, its cable operating company members and key suppliers in the broadband industry. The DOCSIS 3.0 specification establishes ways for cable companies to tie multiple 6 MHz transmission channels together to deliver data at speeds in excess of 160 Mbps to consumers and at 120 Mbps or more upstream from consumers.
DOCSIS 3.0 also incorporates support for the Internet Protocol version 6. IPv6 is the next generation of the Internet Protocol and greatly expands the number of Internet addresses that cable operators may use, allowing them to provide consumers with more IP-based services, such as IPTV and a variety of telephony capabilities. These new protocols will allow cable operators to expand their service offerings without bound.
SG 9 has in the recent past begun the process of producing the second generation of standards known as IPCablecom. These standards, identified as PacketCable 2.0 in the U.S., provide the specifications for delivering advanced, real-time multimedia services over cable operators’ networks. They utilize the DOCSIS platform and Internet Protocol technology to enable a wide range of multimedia services such as fixed-mobile convergence, business communications, video communications, and cross-platform features.
The initial set of IPCablecom2 Recommendations, covering the core elements of the PacketCable 2.0 architecture, was consented by the study group in 2006. The additional standards consented during the Singapore meeting add Home Subscriber Server functionality to the architecture. The HSS provides key mechanisms needed to support subscriber mobility and roaming.
A new draft standard has been produced that defines service level requirements and an architectural framework for cable networks to provide new services based on technology generally known as Internet Protocol Television. IPTV utilizes the Internet protocol in providing video/audio/text/graphics/data at required levels of quality, security, interactivity and reliability. The new draft standard is extensive and includes requirements for network elements as well as CPE, including middleware application interfaces which consist of software libraries that provide uniform access to system services. It leverages existing deployed cable technologies, such as MPEG, DOCSIS, GEM, and IPCablecom to provide a smooth path for cable operators to integrate IPTV technology into their networks.
source: tvover.net
Cisco and NetCologne are joining forces to bring broadband speeds up to 200 Mbps with live streaming of high-definition Internet Protocol video to the ANGA Cable trade fair. The ultra-high-speed service is delivered over NetCologne’s hybrid fiber coaxial network using Euro-DOCSIS 3.0 standard compliant technology from Cisco. Visitors to NetCologne’s and Cisco’s showcase will be able to experience the future in broadband entertainment services, with access to multiple live streams of high-definition video and lightning-fast downloading of multimedia content.
For the demonstration, NetCologne is using a Cisco Euro-DOCSIS 3.0-compliant solution comprising the Cisco uBR10012 cable modem termination system, Cisco edge QAM, Cisco DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems and Cisco Model IPP430MC IP set-top boxes.
High-definition video streams will be delivered to the ANGA trade fair from a Cisco IP-centric video headend based on the Cisco D9900 Digital Content Manager which NetCologne has deployed to multicast IPTV programming content across its network to both cable and DSL subscribers, and will soon make available to FTTB customers as well. “The advantage of video over IP is that we can serve all our customers from a single headend, across all access technologies,” added Mr. Schwarzfeld. “It’s a new approach to pay-TV that will make the quality of experience consistent for our customers.”
source: tvover.net
Financially and politically it would be suicide to tear out and rebuild the hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) plant that the cable industry built in the late ’90s, so the industry has placed its hopes on a multifeatured IP specification, DOCSIS 3.0, and the next-generation management tools it allows.
This evolutionary specification, developed by the R&D consortium at CableLabs, provides a road map without needing a rebuild, said Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corp. during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “It is going to give us an ability to innovate and add more creative products for video, on the data side and on the communications front.”
DOCSIS 3.0 builds on top of the preceding DOCSIS 2.0 (aka PacketCable) with five major features:
- Channel bonding to mash together multiple channels and create a fat bandwidth pipe.
- IPv6 to provide more IP addresses as IPv4 becomes exhausted.
- Business and operations support systems (B/OSS) enhancements through IP Data Records (IPDR) to mine more in-depth Internet usage information.
- IP multicasting to define an IPTV migration path.
- Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to enhance security for key business customers.
Top-level cable execs are leaning on vendors and standards organizations to push through certified DOCSIS 3.0 equipment, which will have immediate and long-term impacts on BSS and OSS.
“There are a whole lot of OSS issues with being able to provision [creative] services, such as how you monitor those services, their fault tolerance, troubleshooting, trouble ticketing,” said Kelly Neiman, head of the cable markets sector for the TM Forum. “It’s a very hardy upgrade to their infrastructure so the MSOs will do it in phases. The issue overall with the OSS is looking at it as a whole and not in iterative steps.”
The Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) was developed by CableLabs as an evolutionary, backward-compatible specification, so it’s logical that DOCSIS 3.0 is “an a la carte thing where MSOs will deploy features on a one-by-one basis,” said Brian Hedstrom, senior OSS engineer at CableLabs. “From a back-office perspective, IPv6 would have the most effect on applications.”
source: billingworld.com
As cable operators seek to deploy advanced interactive video services, and face increasing competition from telecom, satellite, and mobile operators on the video front, they are turning to new technology to reduce bandwidth usage while improving performance and capabilities on their existing networks. A key emerging technology to enable advanced video services is DOCSIS 3.0. By delivering interactive IP video to the home over DOCSIS, cable operators free bandwidth on multicast networks and can take advantage of the innovative features offered by IP video.
ABI Research’s report addresses CableLabs’ issuance of DOCSIS 3.0 specifications, an overview of some pre-DOCSIS 3.0-standard CMTS products on the market, and analysis of the impact of DOCSIS 3.0 on CMTS and CPE shipments.
Tables and Charts
- DOCSIS 3.0 for CATV Equipment, Units in Use, 2005 to 2011
- DOCSIS 3.0 for CMTS, Units in Use, 2005 to 2011
- DOCSIS 3.0 for CPE, Units in Use, 2005 to 2011
- DOCSIS 3.0 Equipment Shipments and the Timing of CATV IP Video Services
- DOCSIS Characteristics
- DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS Shipments, World Markets: 2005 to 2011
- DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem Shipments, World Markets: 2005 to 2011
- DOCSIS 3.0 Residential Gateway Shipments, World Markets: 2005 to 2011
- DOCSIS 3.0 STB Shipments, World Markets: 2005 to 2011
- Executive Summary
- 1.1 DOCSIS 3.0 Technology
- 1.1.1 DOCSIS 3.0 Enhancements
- 1.1.2 Further Explanation of DOCSIS 3.0 Features
- 1.1.3 Comparison to Previous DOCSIS Standards
- 1.2 Current Status of DOCSIS 3.0 Specifications
- Section 2
DOCSIS 3.0 Product Overview - 2.1 Harmonic Narrowcast Services Gateway
- 2.2 Motorola MediaCipher and Work with StarHub
- 2.3 Cisco uBR10012 CMTS
- Section 3
The Business-Model Impact of DOCSIS 3.0 - 3.1 What Will IP Video over DOCSIS 3.0 Look Like?
- 3.2 The Timing of Equipment Development for DOCSIS 3.0
- Section 4
DOCSIS 3.0 Equipment Forecast - 4.1 DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS Forecast
- 4.2 DOCSIS 3.0 CPE Forecast
- 4.2.1 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem Forecast
- 4.2.2 DOCSIS 3.0 Residential Gateway Forecast
- 4.2.3 DOCSIS 3.0 Set-Top Box Forecast
- 4.2.4 Penetration of DOCSIS 3.0 into CPE
Market Update
Section 1
DOCSIS 3.0: Technology Overview and Current Status
source: abiresearch.com
Telstra has been talking about this for many years – the original network was built in 1990s – but hasn’t moved on it until now, just when the government is more or less ready to announce its national plan for high-speed broadband. We all know that Telstra is not happy with the government’s plans and that it is not going to cooperate with them, so it may not be a coincidence that the announcement has been made at this particular point in time. It certainly will help to spoil that national plan.
Long-term, DOCSIS 3.0 is a dead-end street technology. The whole world is moving towards far greater user participation on the Internet, and two-way video communication. DOCSIS cannot manage services like this adequately. It would in some instances even be inferior to the new copper-based DSL services, let alone to FttH. And while speed is an issue, affordability is a far bigger issue.
Unfortunately, Telstra has a history of spoiling the party – it successfully used this same HFC network to undermine the Optus rollout of similar services. So the odds are in favour of this being a defensive strategy rather than a genuine attempt to improve broadband services.
Short term, however, the biggest question is what price will customers be charged to access this network? Based on Telstra’s mantra of premium networks and premium prices, the end-user price will most likely be out of the reach of most users. BuddeComm thinks it will be aimed at the top 10%, or at the most 15%, of users.
And, finally, in the end also cable networks will need to be upgraded to fibre (FttH). Sol Trujillo himself said that eventually Telstra needs to move to FttH. However, as an interim step towards that goal we accept that there is room for DOCSIS 3.0 – as long as it’s a genuine investment and not one made simply to undermine the NBN.
From an investment point of view it would make sense to first wait what the national decision is and than make your own plans, this begs another question will Telstra really make this investment whatever that national decision is?
As some users in desperate need of better broadband services might choose to jump on the DOCSIS bandwagon this could stop those people from using a truly future-proof high-speed network.
Unless the government comes up with strong regulations to stop Telstra from misusing their networks to undermine the long-term national economic and social interests we could see a serious attempt to derail the government’s a $5 billion broadband investment, and we don’t think this would sell at all well.
source: budde.com.au
Nothing gets me more giddy than learning about new Internet technologies that may wind up in my household one day and today’s AP article about Comcast’s demo of DOCSIS 3.0 is no exception. Currently, cable modems use a coaxial cable line to shoot data down a TV channel. The fastest throughput this method has been able to achieve lies around 8-10 megabits.
A new revision of cable modem technology dubbed DOCSIS 3.0 uses four TV channels for data delivery and delivers an unbelievable 150 megabit per second download speed! Unfortunately, the article didn’t say what kind of upload speed this new technology will be able to provide but I was able to research and find a potential upload speed for DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems of around 120mbps.
In the presentation, ARRIS Group Inc. chief executive Robert Stanzione downloaded a 30-second, 300-megabyte television commercial in a few seconds and watched it long before a standard modem worked through an estimated download time of 16 minutes.
Generally, I would much rather use an Internet service based around fiber lines (FiOS) than old coaxial lines but Verizon’s FiOS service has been rather slow at laying new fiber lines to residential areas. Cable providers should be able to offer DOCSIS 3.0 service to residential areas “within less than a couple years”. What does this mean? This means that within 5 years we might be seeing YouTube HD (if YouTube is still around…) in addition to many more people relying on online data storage to safeguard personal documents, perhaps even an online OS.
source: paulstamatiou.com
TWC No Bandwidth Cap, No Wideband!
I am twice happy that I do not live in an area where Time Warner Rules. But Even if I did, I think I will not be having their internet service that they call broadband. In any case 5GB monthly cap they suggested while back was the crux of road runner crap!
But now they seem to be laying more crap so their customers can stp on. According to Alex Dudley, VP of public relations for Time Warner, the wideband service, DOCSIS 3.0, is on hold because they could not launch tiered pricing. Time Warner planned to roll out both the services at the same time, therefore they are both on hold now.
Dudley on his twitter feed;
“@netpro2k It doesn’t…just that the rollout was scheduled with the trial and now all of it is on hold”
@AlexTWC
He has also mentioned that the biggest cost associated with wideband roll-out is bandwidth allocation. Are sure it is not per house passed? I read some where that it costs us some where around $750 per house passed USA while Japanese do it for $20. I think what they refer to as bandwidth allocation is the infrastructure upgrade. They want you to pay for their network setup? I think the wolf is catching up! source: snapvoip.blogspot.com
All the while, Comcast started rolling out DOCSIS 3.0 last year, announcing this Tuesday that it had expanded into the San Francisco Peninsula. Yes Show them how it is done!
source: snapvoip.blogspot.com
Bresnan Communications, the nation’s thirteen largest MSO with 300k subscribers, is preparing for DOCSIS 3.0, but is in no rush. Speaking at Light Reading’s Cable Next-Gen Broadband Strategies Conference, Bresnan VP of strategic engineering Pragash Pillai said DOCSIS 3.0 “is an insurance policy right now.” According to Jeff Baumgartner’s blog, Bresnan is installing a Cisco cable modem termination system (CMTS), the uBR10012, in some of its larger markets with DOCSIS 3.0 capabilities already on board. Pillai cited the high cost of wideband modems as one contributing factor to their cautious approach. Bresnan’s current top broadband speed is 15 Mbps and they seem content with that for now. But competitors beware – they’re baking in the capability and will launch it when the time is right.
source: telecompetitor.com