Mediacom Plotting Docsis 3.0 Tests

I was just listening to the Mediacom Communications Corp. fourth quarter call this morning and there’s plenty of news emerging. (See Mediacom Posts Q4.)

Lots more to share later today, but the company confirmed that it is preparing to test Docsis 3.0 in the lab, paving the way for deployment of a new CableLabs platform that will push shared speeds beyond the 100 Mbit/s mark.

That’s a bit of a departure from what Mediacom said last August. Back then, the company suggested it would take a “back seat” on Docsis 3.0, and let the larger MSOs take the first stab at it. (See Mediacom Takes 'Back Seat' on Docsis 3.0 .)

Mediacom also hopes to win some share from DSL with a “lite” high-speed product offering priced at $19.95 per month.

The MSO termed 2008 as a “peak year” in capex spending as it moves ahead with several bandwidth-related initiatives. Among them, it expects to deploy digital simulcast to 50 percent of its footprint by year-end, up from about 25 percent today. It’s also planning to upgrade some 550 MHz systems, and to migrate a portion of its smaller systems to all-digital.

Another strategy in Mediacom’s bandwidth quiver in 2008 will be switched digital video (SDV). The company plans to deploy that in three systems by the end of 2008.

More details to come later today…

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News

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