Welcome to the broadband and cable news roundup, T.G.I.F. edition.
Comcast Corp. has deployedLancope Inc.'s StealthWatch platform to give the MSO more visibility into its network, improve troubleshooting, aid in capacity planning and help the MSO respond quickly to a range of potential security issues, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Comcast says the new system, which Lancope claims can handle up to 120,000 flows per second per collector, gives it the ability to monitor more than 500 core routers and identify problems in its data center on-the-fly, as opposed to the "several days" it took when using its previous analytics platform.
Cisco Systems Inc.'s sale of its Linksys unit to Belkin Corp. shouldn't affect Cisco's revenues much. The home networking unit contributed less than 1 percent of Cisco's revenue (less than US$120 million per quarter), Raymond James Financial Inc. analyst Simon Leopold estimated in a research note issued Friday, noting that it's unlikely that he'll have to tweak his model on Cisco much in the wake of the sale. He said it was believed that Linksys was pulling in more than $500 million in annual sales when Cisco acquired Linksys in 2003 … for $500 million. (See Cisco Unloads Linksys Unit.)
Multiple test broadcasts of UltraHD/4K services will likely get underway this year, with commercial deployments beginning to ramp up in 2014 and 2015, Deloitte Development LLC predicts in a new report (PDF). And it could be a pricey transition, as Deloitte estimates that it will cost broadcasters between $10 million and $15 million to create a 4K channel when factoring in upgrades to existing equipment and infrastructure. And even when programming does become available, consumer adoption won't occur overnight, given that some of the initial 4K-capable TV sets cost a cool $20,000. Deloitte expects that at least half of the 4K sets that roll out by year's end could be had for about half that -- a price that's still out of the reach for most consumers. UltraHD sets with screens in the 50-inch range could drop to under $1,000 within five years or sooner, the report adds.
Cable ONE Inc. has launched a 30-day money back guarantee program for new and existing customers who subscribe to any new service, whether it's a stand-alone or part of a bundle. The Phoenix-based operator, owned by The Washington Post Company, ended the third quarter of 2012 with 605,057 basic video subs, a year-over-year reduction of 22,602, but posted solid gains in its high-speed data and telephony categories.
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