Asta-Net is the next cable TV operator which introduces DOCSIS 3.0 I-CMTS in cooperation with VECTOR.
The DOCSIS 3.0 I-CMTS data transmission system allows offering the Internet access services with data speed higher than 100 Mbit/s. It also makes possible to use the IP protocol for video transmission (IPTV services). The new system reduces the operational costs of cable TV operators by the power reduction and increases efficiency and reliability of the solution. It reduces the cost per each Mb of the network traffic.
Astra-Net has appreciated the advantages of DOCSIS 3.0. The company has been present in the Wielkopolska district since 1989. The company offers services in the area of cable TV, broadband Internet access, digital TV and telephony. The offered products have the highest quality and are based on the latest technological solutions responding for increasing customer needs.
“The deployment of the DOCSIS 3.0 system will allow us to offer fast data transmission services up to 200 Mbit/s and to broaden our offer with new services responding for needs of more and more demanding customers. Our competitiveness will be higher thanks to the deployed system. The reduction of the transmission cost is also very important for us, as well as the flexibility of downstream and upstream configuration”, said Mr. Zbigniew Ryczek, the President of the Astra-Net board of directors.
The DOCSIS 3.0 I-CMTS fast data transmission system arouses interest of cable operators offering TV, data and telephone services. VECTOR will be informing about the system introduction by the next cable operators.
source: VECTOR
While DOCSIS 3.0 offers more than four times the downstream and upstream data throughput, it is far more complex to deploy. Therefore, the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” has never been truer. Planning for DOCSIS 3.0 now is imperative to mitigate potential issues when it’s finally deployed. We must understand and address potential issues for timely deployments as well as economical reasons.
We need to add more downstream capacity in the form of DOCSIS 3.0, and it’s time now to consider upgrading. DOCSIS 3.0 uses a technique called channel bonding to unite multiple downstream channels to enable a single DOCSIS 3.0 modem to get four or more times the downstream throughput that is available in a DOCSIS 2.0 system. Bonding in DOCSIS 3.0 is logical; data being transmitted is spread among several individual channels. The “haystacks” aren’t bonded into one gigantic channel.
With Verizon’s FiOS menacing the market share of cable operators, DOCSIS 3.0 has come to the rescue. DOCSIS 3.0 offers greater than four times the downstream and upstream data throughput than prior DOCSIS versions. This directly feeds into the business case for many cable operators to compete with FiOS and to improve efficiency. Upgrading to DOCSIS 3.0 is the only way to offer higher data rates than what DOCSIS 2.0 can provide. (DOCSIS 3.0 = >150 Mbps, while DOCSIS 2.0 = ~37 Mbps).
DOCSIS 3.0 downstream channel bonding is being deployed today. While North America is just getting started (excluding Canada), Asian countries have deployed more than half a million downstream bonding modems in the last few years.source: cable360.net
Now that the incumbent has been dumped from the National Broadband Network process, it’s forced the Telco to rethink their strategy and it’s through this that another Telstra Broadband revelation has emerged. Sol Trujillo, Telstra’s CEO, told a Citigroup EMT conference recently that Telstra is now capable of rolling out DOCSIS 3.0 technology that could deliver their Cable Broadband customers a staggering 100 Mbps broadband speed. WoW! Not only could they deliver 100Mbps high speed broadband connectivity, but using this technology Telstra could match the Broadband speed of the upcoming NBN. On top of this they could also roll out this 100Mbps network upgrade faster than any competitor could instill their own.
When it was revealed that Telstra held back the activation of hundreds of ADSL2 DSLAM Exchanges across Australia in 2008, many people where left bewildered. One one hand it was very disappointing to learn that Telstra was basically holding back the access of High Speed Broadband to thousands of Australians and therefore holding back potential economic growth. Then again, Telstra, as per usual, makes business decisions based on the best intentions of their shareholders. Sour grapes or smart business?
This technology basically means that Telstra could compete with, if not exceed, the speeds in which the new NBN technology is likely to bring. Of course Telstra’s DOCSIS 3.0 technology integration would be limited to major metropolitan areas where Telstra’s existing HFC network already exists, however this is still a very large chunk of Australia’s population. So when can we expect this to happen? Once again, it sounds like Telstra are going to hold back until they are forced to do so by competitive pressure.
source: techhub.com.au
Comcast Corp announced that it is now rolling out DOCSIS 3.0 “wideband” internet service for its subscribers, which will increase maximum line speed to 50 Mbps.
Current DOCSIS 2.0 speeds top out at around 38 Mbps for downstream service, per channel. DOCSIS 3.0 allows ISPs to bond multiple channels into a single connection, allowing for up to an eight-fold increase in speed – up to 300 Mbps in the U.S. and 400 Mbps in Europe. Furthermore, the new specification adds full support for IPv6.
Wideband service will be available to subscribers under two different prices: $62.95 or $139.95 a month for residential customers, and $99.95 or $189.95 a month for businesses. The higher priced “Extreme 50” service offers speeds of up to 50 Mbps downstream/ 10 Mbps upstream, while “Ultra” service offers half the bandwidth for half the price.
The deployment starts with a handful of markets – New England, Philadelphia, and New Jersey – but should be available in the top 10 markets nationwide by the end of the year.
source: reviewlab.net
Wideband is a game-changer for the industry. With wideband running over our next-generation fiber-optic network, we can greatly enhance our customers’ online experience immediately. And these speeds are only a preview of what’s to come—wideband will provide the capability of delivering dramatically faster speeds in excess of 160 Mbps in the future,” said Mitch Bowling, SVP and General Manager, Comcast Online Services.
Comcast is officially launching DOCSIS 3.0 service in some Northeast markets. The cable industry refers to DOCSIS 3.0 as wideband. Comcast quotes the era of DOCSIS 3.0 as the evolution of broadband to wideband. Wideband is a direct shot across the bow of Verizon FiOS and other FTTH providers. It also hopes to put the nail in the coffin of DSL, which will have a hard time competing with it. Comcast will offer the service in its Minneapolis, Boston, Philadelphia, and Southern New Hampshire markets. “Comcast plans to continue to roll out wideband across its footprint and expects to reach more than 10 major markets and pass nearly 10 million homes and businesses in the next several months,” says Comcast in a company statement.
source: telecompetitor.com
Here in the U.S., DOCSIS 3.0 modems are going on sale at retailers. Comcast, the largest cable operator in the U.S. has already announced plans to upgrade some markets it serves to DOCSIS 3.0 service by the end of 2009, offering speeds up to 50 Mbps downstream. Other cable operators have followed suit – Charter Communications is rolling out a 60 Mbps service and a Canadian cable company is offering a 100 Mbps tier.
The second largest cable company in Japan, Japan Cablenet Ltd., has announced a new DOCSIS 3.0 speed tier that appears to offer speeds up to 160 Mbps downstream, based on the product’s name. They’re calling it “Speed Star 160,” and it goes on sale to customers there later this month. While the downstream speed alone would be remarkable, this article implies that Cablenet may be planning to offer an upstream speed of 120 Mbps with the product.
Here at Insight, we’re following the DOCSIS 3.0 deployment very closely and already are doing some preparatory work on our network to prepare for DOCSIS 3.0 speeds.
source: michaelsinsight.com
A new ABI Research study, “Cable Television Infrastructure: Headend, Plant, Spectrum, Backhaul, STB, and Revenue Analysis” provides an overview of the CATV infrastructure market. It includes, among many other elements, forecast analysis of headend video equipment, CATV network plant, STB deployments, and bandwidth/spectrum expansion. It is part of the Multi-Channel Video Research Service, which also includes other Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, Online Databases, ABI Vendor Matrices, ABI Insights and analyst inquiry support.
DOCSIS 3.0 is also seen as one way to increase available spectrum because it removes some of the video from the multicast stream that is part of the traditional spectrum.
The recent announcement by Comcast that it will trial IP video services later this year using the new DOCSIS 3.0 data networking standard highlights the keen interest many cable operators around the world are showing in the possibilities of IPTV.
“The consequences for equipment vendors will be enormous,” says Schatt. “North American cable operators collectively spent more than $80 billion on network upgrades in recent years, and now they’ll have to spend freely once more: the change to IP video affects not only core headend equipment, but the set-top boxes found in every household served by cable. This is going to create a huge equipment turnover.”
source: tvover.net
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
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
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