Cable flirts with 'fiber-first,' pursues more spectrum sharing

Jeff Baumgartner, Sue Marek and Mike Dano discuss highlights from the Cable Next-Gen event in Denver, spanning the road ahead for DOCSIS, fiber, wireless, low-latency broadband, and the evolution of video and pay-TV.

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Jeff Baumgartner, Mike Danoand 1 more

March 14, 2024

At a Glance

How and why the industry is adopting a 'fiber-first/DOCSIS second' approach (2:40)
How cable is zeroing in on the shared spectrum model and why FWA competition might be a motivating factor (4:30)
How the shutdown of legacy QAM video can fuel broadband and accelerate the industry's move toward an all-IP future (13:30)

DENVER – CABLE NEXT-GEN – Just before a monster snowstorm hit the Mile High City, broadband operators, suppliers and key industry watchers gathered here for Light Reading's 17^th annual cable industry event.

Fitting with the evolution of the "cable" industry toward something much broader and its increasingly agnostic approach to the access network, topics and hot buttons here ran the gamut. The future of DOCSIS and the hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) network, the industry's amplified focus on fiber, its foray into mobile, and the future of video and pay-TV were all focus areas this week.

In this video, Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner and Mike Dano talk with Light Reading contributor and cable industry expert Sue Marek about key takeaways from the two-day event. Watch for more coverage of CNG in the days ahead.

Here are a few topics we cover (click the closed captioning button in the player for a lightly edited transcript):

Mike and Sue dig into key themes including operators' interest in DOCSIS 3.1 'flex,' the transition to DOCSIS 4.0, and the rising role of AI and machine learning (00:40)
How and why the industry is starting to adopt a 'fiber-first/DOCSIS second' approach as fiber-to-the-premises options become an important tool for cable ops rather than just a competitive boogeyman (2:40)
How cable is zeroing in on the shared spectrum model and why fixed wireless access competition could be a motivating factor (4:30)
Low latency is a pillar of cable's 10G initiative, but how will operators market it as it is becoming clear that consumer adoption is sluggish when low latency is sold as a premium add-on? (06:40)
Operators' interest in the National Content & Technology Cooperative's (NCTC's) agreements with AT&T and Reach is on the rise (9:30)
A skinny video bundle is in the works for NCTC's membership of nearly 700 independent operators (10:15)
Cable's shut down of legacy QAM video infrastructure is starting among some midsized operators. How will that fuel capacity for broadband and accelerate the industry's all-IP future? (13:30)

About the Author(s)

Jeff Baumgartner

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.

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Mike Dano

Mike Dano

Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading

Mike Dano is Light Reading's Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies. Mike can be reached at [email protected], @mikeddano or on LinkedIn.

Based in Denver, Mike has covered the wireless industry as a journalist for almost two decades, first at RCR Wireless News and then at FierceWireless and recalls once writing a story about the transition from black and white to color screens on cell phones.

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Sue Marek

Sue Marek

Special Contributor

Follow Sue on Twitter @suemarek

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