Australians win the NBN

Today’s announcement that the Rudd Australian Government will drive the design and construction of a wholesale fibre-to-the-premise infrastructure network is the sensible and best outcome for Australian business and households. The Government has not fallen victim to a technology biased outcome that would have delivered broadband performance less than best practice.

In the short-term, this positive decision creates an opportunity for the Government to consider investment opportunities’ in cable broadband as part of its stimulus package. In the near-term, vertically integrated mobile broadband and cable broadband network operators have a clear window in which to invest and modernise their networks to superfast performance.

In particular, the Australian cable operators can leverage their assets to reinforce their competitive position. North American cable operators have recognised that upgrading their infrastructure is more cost effective that deploying fibre access networks or the much touted VDSL2 which require a major infrastructure redesign.

The industry visionaries see the shift in broadband customer behaviour will move quickly to approaching 100 Mbps downstream and 30 Mbps up stream driven by sophisticated simultaneous high definition TV (HDTV), 3D TV, file sharing and web TV.

The cable operators will be able to enhance the customer experience on their PCs via IP-based video broadcast just like Comcast and their new interactive service called Fancast.com: Fancast gives instant access to video collection of television shows and movies. Another example is Japan Cablenet who is on the eve of launching a new service called Speed Star 160 - which delivers a blistering 160 Mbps down speed and an expected 20 Mbps up speed along with carrier-grade voice service.

In the Netherlands, the policy makers have recognised the attractiveness of the cable broadband and are moving to encourage them to open their networks to other industry participants. Starhub in Singapore is proactively developing wholesale propositions for mobile operators to generate additional revenue. The Chinese Government accepts that cable is a modern IP-based infrastructure with a natural evolution to ultra broadband.

Using the latest standards based technology; European operators are deploying EuroDOCSIS 3.0 technology to support up to 200 Mbps downstream speeds. C-COR Broadband has supported several cable broadband operators with field evaluation and laboratory systems with DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS and production cable modems. In our view, cable offers significant competitive strengths: lower capital requirements, effective provisioning and service architecture and a complementary development for mobile broadband operators.

In 2010, we see the next evolutionary step in EuroDOCSIS cable technology will deliver another kick-up in performance to raw speeds approaching 400 Mbps downstream. The cable modems and the chipsets were launched in September and January 2009 by Texas Instruments and Broadcom Corporation, respectively. ARRIS Group Inc, a world leader in cable broadband technologies is working closely with leading cable operators on the final design of these new products for first shipments early 2010.

About C-COR Broadband
An independent provider of integrated broadband carrier-grade products, complex VAS platforms and accessories from best-of-breed vendors. With a deep understanding of cable broadband (aka HFC) networks, C-COR Broadband is leading the dialogue on next generation Fibre-to-the-Premise Cable technology.

As the NBN develops, new network architectures will be needed to cost effectively deliver the vastly improved services available in an FTTP network architecture.

C-COR Broadband is engaging with Cable Operators on network architecture options based on FTTP Cable technology, a cost effective, future proof solution for providing medium to long term growth in existing markets and for opening up new business opportunities by delivering superior triple play services to existing and new subscribers.

FTTP Cable represents a transitional approach to meet emerging market needs whilst maintaining core IT investments in customer care and billing and operational support systems. FTTP Cable supports contemporary triple-play services with a future Gigabit Ethernet PON services overlay.