DOCSIS 3.0 network technology, which will give the cablecos a major speed advantage over the telcos’ DSL technology, should be available to nearly all homes that their networks pass within the next five years, according to the market research firm Pike & Fischer.
We first reported on DOCSIS 3.0 in April 2004 when we said, “The cable companies are pushing a DOCSIS 3.0 initiative that could increase their broadband speed to as high as 200 Mbps down/100 Mbps up by 2006.”
Perhaps the telcos, with their fiber-optic networks, did not threaten the cablecos sufficiently, because 2006 came and went with no DOCSIS 3.0 deployments. Only in mid-2008 did the cablecos, specifically Comcast, begin deploying DOCSIS 3.0.
DOCSIS 3.0 has other benefits for the cablecos, according to Pike & Fischer. It helps them to manage their networks better, cut operating costs and “significantly” increases their high-speed Internet revenue. Some of the biggest cable operators, again Comcast, will cover 100% of their territories with DOCSIS 3.0 by the end of 2010, with others reaching that mark by the end of 2013, said Pike & Fischer.
It also predicts DOCSIS 3.0 deployment will get a lot of support from government officials who are distributing funds from the economic stimulus package. “Considering the massive bandwidth increases that will be enabled by upgrading DOCSIS 2.0 to 3.0, the government is likely to view DOCSIS 3.0 as a most feasible and affordable near-term solution to perceived bandwidth scarcities,” said chief analyst Tim McElgunn, who authored the report.