2:45 PM -- The speed craze in Japan has prompted what looks to be the first announced deployment of Docsis-based upstream channel bonding.

Japan Cablenet Ltd., the second largest MSO there, will bond both upstream and downstream channels when it debuts a new tier called "Speed Star 160" later this month.

The MSO, which operates 17 systems in the Tokyo metro region, did not disclose pricing or speeds, but the name of the product implies that at least the downstream will bond four 6 MHz channels and provide a shared pipe of 160 Mbit/s. If Cablenet does the same in the upstream, bursts could reach 120 Mbit/s.

Fellow MSO Jupiter Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (J:COM) has a 160 Mbit/s (downstream) Docsis 3.0 service deployed across the board, but has not yet indicated plans to introduce upstream channel bonding. (See J:COM Does Docsis 3.0 All Over.)

Cablenet is fueling the new service with Arris Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRS)'s C4 cable modem termination system (CMTS) and WBM760C wideband modems. (See Cablenet Bonds With the Docsis Upstream.)

Cablenet's deployment of upstream channel bonding indicates that Arris may soon try to obtain Silver or Full Docsis 3.0 qualification at CableLabs . Arris's flagship CMTS has obtained only Bronze qualification, a tiered level that supports downstream channel bonding and IPv6, but does not include upstream channel bonding. (See CableLabs Accelerates Docsis 3.0 Testing .)

So far, only one CMTS vendor -- Casa Systems Inc. -- has won Silver and/or Full Docsis 3.0 qualification. (See CableLabs Cheers Casa Chassis, Cisco, Arris & Casa Make the CableLabs Grade, and A Decade of Docsis .)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News