The final technical component needed to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds has been tested and is on track to be delivered to some cable customers by the end of the year. The test delivered download speeds of 6 Gbps and uploads of 4 Gbps.
Many Internet users who don't have access to fiber don't get the same upload speeds from cable as they do from fiber. For years, cable companies have been promising a major upgrade to uploads, but have never said when it would happen.
It's not clear what percentage of customers will get the upgrade when it first rolls out. It is expected that it will take a long time to upgrade the entire cable territory of the company.
"Comcast will launch live trials later this year, and will begin delivering 10G-powered multi-Gig symmetrical services to customers before the end of 2023," the company stated. The cable industry describes 10-gigabit-per-second speeds.
The upgrade will not require replacing the cables going into customers' homes.
The completion of a DOCSIS version that could provide download and upload speeds of 10 Gbps was announced in October of last year. The cable lobby group NCTA launched a "10G" marketing campaign in January. It promised symmetrical speeds that are up to 10 times faster than the current fastest networks.
The original design of cable networks was to deliver television programming instead of broadband. For a long time, customers had to pay the more expensive plan just to get 35Mbps uploads, even though it was the top upload speed. Last year we wrote about the low upload speeds on cheaper plans.
AdvertisementThat is beginning to change. Colorado Springs, Colorado; Augusta, Georgia; and Panama City Beach, Florida are the only markets where multi-gigabit cable download speeds are available.
More than 50 million homes and businesses will be able to get multi-gigabit download speeds before the end of the year, according to the company. The multi-gigabit uploads teased in today's announcement are likely to be a modest boost to upload speeds.
Since 2015, the company has sold symmetrical fiber-to-the- home internet at higher prices than cable. The DOCSIS upgrades that will extend multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds to Comcast cable will hopefully be offered for less than the cost of a modem.
The upgrade to DOCSIS will allow for symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds over existing cable wires. "Comcast said."
Comcast previously completed successful, world-first tests of 10G network and modem technologies, including demonstrating a complete network-to-home 10G loop. The test, announced today at SCTE EXPO, showed the ability to deliver Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0 (FDX) services over newly designed FDX amplifiers. FDX was originally designed for network environments without radio frequency amplifiers, so the new FDX amplifiers make it dramatically easier to extend the benefits of 10G to every customer within reach of the network.
For the test, Comcast inserted new 10G amps, built on a Broadcom-developed reference design, into a complete 10G network loop using previously tested DOCSIS 4.0 modem and network technologies. The team demonstrated download speeds of 6Gbps and upload speeds of 4Gbps across a complete six-amplifier cascade, sometimes called "N+6". This architecture is inclusive of the vast majority of the Comcast network and is easily and quickly replicated where network environments may differ. As a result, the successful test is key to delivering 10G to all Comcast customers.
The upgrade will drive improvements in the performance of the service.
Although the full-duplex upgrade probably won't happen as quickly as customers want, it is possible to upgrade speeds without replacing wires. The DOCSIS upgrade will allow Internet providers to deliver enhanced speeds and performance to hundreds of millions of people over the connections already installed in their homes, without the need to dig up yards and neighborhoods.
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