Through the Pipe:
Cable Goes For Broadband Gold
By Mike Day, ADC
from the March 19, 2001 issue of Broadband Week
Mike Day is vice president of business development for ADC, an international provider of fiber optics, network equipment, and software and integration that enable communications service providers to deliver high-speed Internet, data, video and voice services to consumers and businesses.
Citius, Altius, Fortius. For 80 years, the Olympics motto has been "Faster. Higher. Stronger." Today, broadband takes on a similar theme. Thanks to our addiction to the Internet and the "more, now" attitude, service providers are racing to deliver instant Internet, voice, video and data faster and with fewer interruptions.
I no longer tolerate "clunky" Web content. But as long as ASPs hog bandwidth to deliver software by the gigabyte; phone networks remain busy during peak periods; multimedia applications fill Web pages; and e-mail attachments grow in size, the Internet will remain clunky.
The answer: broadband access.
Cable is the winner for broadband hungry high-speed access junkies. Nearly 70 million homes in North America are cable-wired, but just 5 million of them have multimedia capabilities. This number will more than triple by 2002, according to Paul Kagan Associates.
Cable offers vast benefits including multimedia service offerings such as video, voice and data in a two-way format; such new IP applications as voice over IP; gaming; interactive TV and VOD.
While cable has the requisite penetration to compete with DSL, it also appears to have the fewest hurdles to reach broadband gold. DSL has both range and bandwidth limitations. ADSL faces similar reach and market issues. VDSL will take time and money to roll out as copper distribution plants must be rebuilt. Broadband wireless is pulling up to the pack but still has deployment, marketing and technical issues to overcome. Satellite broadband suits rural markets but has limited scalability.
Cable's only major hurdle is IP migration, which requires staged upgrades and investments. Cable providers must first upgrade systems from analog to two-way digital. Secondly they have to deploy high-speed IP data services. Finally, they can offer full IP video, voice and data.
For this to happen, providers must move from proprietary systems to a DOCSIS 1.0 standard. Likewise, voice must move from a circuit switch to voice over IP. This allows the bandwidth to be used for data, video and more.
Once this transition occurs, providers can add services at low costs, bundle services to end users, easily acquire customers and reduce churn, improve billing and customer service, and increase profitability.
Selecting the right equipment is key. Carrier class cable modem termination systems and headends must exist to handle IP and capacity. Vendors must be full-service shops and offer deployment speed, quick and trouble-free services to the customer, OSS solutions, EF&I, and financing.
The new platform will help providers:
-- Prepare for today's services as well as tomorrow's. Providers shouldn't have to start from scratch when it's time to upgrade.
-- Be scalable. Don't put limits on future revenue streams or consume too much space at the headend.
-- Think integration. Lots of equipment must be managed and maintained, resulting in higher operational costs.
-- Become standards-based. Proprietary equipment is more costly than standards-based.
-- Don't be "locked in" to one vendor.
Cable is faster, higher and stronger--and looks like the best answer for bundled broadband services. It's flexible, cost-effective, easy to install, and virtually trouble-free. It's also the only medium that can deliver voice, video and data immediately.
Operators who have been customer-centric and market-savvy will finish strong in the race to provide broadband services.
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