China picks 'C-Docsis' as an acceptable cable access standard, creating a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for Broadcom and its vendor partners

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

November 14, 2012

4 Min Read
Broadcom Joins China's Cable Gold Rush

China's cable broadband market is getting ready to explode, and Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) is one of the companies hoping to provide a spark using a new flavor of Docsis that has been tailored -- from a technology and cost perspective -- for the nation's MSOs.

C-Docsis, as it's called, is one of three access technologies selected earlier this year by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) as an acceptable cable access standard for a next-generation broadband (NGB) project that will help the country's cable operators overhaul their plant for triple-play services and arm them to compete against China's powerful telcos, such as China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (NYSE: CHA), China Unicom Ltd. (NYSE: CHU) and China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) (See Broadcom Helps Tweak Docsis for China.)

China's NGB initiative is expected to produce nearly 200 billion yuan (US$32 billion) in infrastructure investment over the next five years, according to BDA Research. It's also expected to help pave the way for some consolidation and organization of China's 2,000-plus cable MSOs, many of which are run by municipalities, with many currently offering only basic video services for a few dollars a month over antiquated plant.

SARFT, essentially the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of China, has standardized on two other Ethernet-over-coax (EoC) technologies for NGB: HiNOC, a baseband technology that may ultimately merge with Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) , and a modified version of HomePlug A/V. SARFT is expected to let those three technologies duke it out for market dominance. (Light Reading Cable will discuss the other cable NGB options for China in a future story.)

As C-Docsis goes, Broadcom is in the pole position, as it is (so far) the sole supplier of silicon for the necessary network-side gear.

What is C-Docsis?
A key goal of C-Docsis is to make Docsis technology cost-competitive in markets that teem with high-density apartments and other multiple-dwelling units (MDUs). Many Chinese cable systems are considered "fiber deep" because they run PON to the MDU before handing things over to the building's coax network that, in turns, transports services to the individual residences. Traditional Docsis cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) aren't cost-competitive in those environments because they are made to serve tens of thousands of customers, rather than just a couple hundred.

C-Docsis enables any Docsis 2.0- or Docsis 3.0-certified cable modem or set-top with an integrated Docsis Set-Top Gateway (DSG) to interoperate with what's essentially a stripped-down cable modem termination system (CMTS), explains Ernie Bahm, senior director of marketing for Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group. But in C-Docsis parlance, this component is called the Coax Media Converter (CMC).

The CMC functions like a CMTS but does not support the core routing functions. The CMC receives the the PON protocol or point-to-point Ethernet signal and turns it into Docsis packets that can be sent along the coax to the cable modems.

"It's the same technology, but uses a different architecture," Bahm says.

  • Page 2: Big market opportunity

    Big market opportunity
    And it's a potentially major opportunity for Broadcom and its C-Docsis partners. Infonetics Research Inc. analyst Jeff Heynen estimates that the Chinese cable market represents between 190 million to 200 million subscribers, with about half of that footprint still one-way. C-Docsis gets Broadcom "to a point where they can reach price points that make Docsis deployable in the Chinese market," he says.

    Cost issues were causing regular Docsis to sputter out in China, says Bahm, who estimates that about 4 million Docsis modems have been deployed in the country so far.

    For now, Broadcom is the only supplier of C-Docsis silicon, though it expects other companies to join in. Broadcom has already lined up several Chinese vendors to make the CMCs, including ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763), Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , Lancable Technology Ltd., UTStarcom Telecom Co. Ltd and Sumavision Technologies Co. Ltd. , a supplier that's pitching a miniaturized, China-focused CMTS called the CC8800 that is capable of bonding 16 downstream channels and four upstream channels. Any Docsis-certified modem will do.

    The largest Chinese cable operator deploying C-Docsis today is Wasu Digital TV Media Group, an operator based in Hangzhou with more than 1.8 million cable TV subs.

    "We also have several field trials going on with our Chinese system customers," Bahm says. "It's not PowerPoint; it's not coming; it's all here now."

    But there's still some opportunities in China for regular Docsis, though it's difficult to determine how big that opportunity is. Casa Systems Inc. , for example, has made some headway with Chinese cable operators, and recently introduced a mini Docsis 3.0 CMTS designed for MDUs. (See Casa Shrinks Docsis 3.0 CMTS, Casa Downsizes the CMTS , Casa Wins CMTS Deal in China and China MSO Taps Casa's CMTS.)

    And there's some risk for the vendors, even in a cable broadband market as untapped as China. Success of each of the different access technologies available in China will hinge on how operators make their selections and how the MSOs end up consolidating, Bahm says.

    — Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable



About the Author(s)

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like