Comcast's Elad Nafshi on network scale, DAA, 10G, PON and what's next for FDX

Following his keynote address at last week's Cable Next-Gen Technologies and Strategies event in Denver, Elad Nafshi, Comcast's EVP and chief network officer, stayed for a fireside chat to dig a bit deeper into the company's plan to evolve and upgrade its widely deployed hybrid-fiber coax (HFC) network.

Comcast's deployment of a virtualized and distributed network is ramping up. Nafshi said Comcast has deployed about 83,000 new digital nodes so far, and is rolling them out at a clip of 1,500 to 2,000 per week.

He said it's been a challenge to keep the cadence high amid recent supply chain and labor constraints.

"Hardening technology to be able to scale to this [level]… is not trivial," he said, reiterating Comcast's plan to deploy its new network across 50 million homes by the end of 2025.

Here's a snapshot of topics covered:

• Nafshi reflects on a tech Emmy recently won by Comcast, Harmonic and Intel (00:30)
• Why scaling and hardening Comcast's new network "is not trivial" (1:30)
• How the emergence of the FDX amplifier changes the game for Comcast's coming DOCSIS 4.0 network (2:45)
• An update on how Comcast is adding targeted fiber-to-the-premises capabilities to its distributed architecture and what use cases it will support (5:15)
• How lower latencies fit into the overall picture (8:15)
• The origins of Comcast's pursuit of network virtualization (9:30)

Related posts:

• Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman on how cable is speeding ahead on network upgrades
• Cable Next-Gen 2023 recap: Operators choose their own adventure
• In cable, FDX vs. ESD debate continues
• With 83,000 DAA nodes deployed, Comcast's 10G network upgrade remains on track

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading