Bandwidth: Key Weapon in the Cable-Telco Battle for Subscribers

Overview

For years, cable service operators enjoyed excess network capacity and could rest easily. They had ample bandwidth to handle data and video services, and had no need to make serious upgrades to their systems, Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), or plants. Then, telcos upped the ante and made broadband to the home, especially in terms of Fiber To The Home (FTTH), more competitive. The cable services industry responded by accelerating the advancement of its cornerstone specification, Data-Over-Cable-Service-Interface-Specification (DOCSIS), to deliver a new version, DOCSIS 3.0. This new specification offers a new competitive weapon in the cable arsenal as cable service providers also upgrade their infrastructure, ramp up new services, and expand networks for bandwidth-hungry consumers.