Cable companies should have enhanced broadband service deployed to nearly all of their subscribers within the next five years, according to a new forecast by research firm Pike & Fischer.
Cable operators such as Comcast and Cox Communications are deploying DOCSIS 3.0, which increases the Internet speed that can be delivered to cable modem users to as much as 100mbps, more than 10 times the typical speeds of today's cable Internet service.
DOCSIS 3.0 will help cable operators better manage their networks, cut their operational costs and significantly increase their high-speed Internet revenue, P&F analysts said in a press statement.
Some of the biggest cable operators will cover 100 percent of their territories with DOCSIS 3.0 capabilities by the end of next year, with others reaching that mark by the end of 2013, according to the P&F analysis.
The research house also predicts DOCSIS 3.0 will garner a lot of support from government officials 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 P&F Chief Analyst Tim McElgunn, who authored the report.
