Gigabit Internet is drawing significant interest as Google Fiber deploys 1Gbit/s broadband service and municipalities seek to become Gigabit Cities. Publicity surrounding Google Fiber's network has raised expectations that Gigabit Internet is a panacea that will raise America's standing in international broadband rankings and cure its ills in education, healthcare, and other fields.
The perceived benefits, whether they come to pass or not, are putting pressure on cable operators to increase their Internet speeds, according to the new Heavy Reading Cable Industry Insider, "Fast & Furious: Cable Counters Google Gigabit Salvo." The report analyzes whether Gigabit Internet is necessary, the broadband competition in the marketplace, Google Fiber's service, and cable's high-speed Internet developments.
Cable providers have been driving toward faster Internet speeds, but the competitive pressure posed by Google Fiber means they cannot take their foot off the gas, according to the report. "Google Fiber is a catalyst," says John Chapman, CTO, cable access business unit, Cisco. While MSOs do not have to engage in costly rebuilds of their existing hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) architecture, they will need to steadily invest in broadband technology, the report says.
MSOs already provide dedicated-fiber, multi-gigabit Metro Ethernet connections for schools, healthcare networks, and enterprises that are better suited for such speeds than residences, the report says. For the residential market, MSOs are raising access speeds primarily with DOCSIS 3.0 (D3) technologies while preparing for DOCSIS 3.1 (D3.1), which will enable Gigabit-level speeds on HFC plant.
Google Fiber is rolling out in Kansas City-area "Fiberhoods" in Provo, Utah, and plans to deploy in Austin, Texas. Using its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, Google Fiber provides 1Gbit/s symmetrical service for only $70/month to residences. It also offers a traditional cable TV lineup and a low-end data service at 5 Mbit/s down, 1 Mbit/s up.
Meanwhile, the FCC has set a policy goal of establishing a Gigabit City in each state by 2015. Many municipalities are looking at Gigabit Internet service as a path toward better education and healthcare.
The Heavy Reading report explores the Gigabit Internet trend and its implications for cable operators and suppliers. It includes profiles of seven suppliers that support advances in cable's high-speed Internet residential infrastructure.
The cable industry has many broadband weapons in its arsenal. Industry efforts to utilize D3/3.1, node splitting, deep fiber, and optical networking promise to push Internet speeds to 1 Gbit/s and beyond, the report says. While cable is deploying more FTTH in greenfield areas, technology experts believe HFC plant and DOCSIS will remain vibrant and will maintain cable's high-speed growth for years to come.
— Craig Leddy, Contributing Analyst, Heavy Reading Insider
"Fast & Furious: Cable Counters Google Gigabit Salvo," a 15-page report, is available as part of an annual single-user subscription (six issues) to Heavy Reading Cable Industry Insider, priced at $1,595. Individual reports are available for $900. To subscribe, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/cable.
When direct point to point gigabit becomes necessary it would still most likely still be done via an access device, then aggregated to Nx10Gig ports on your provider edge routers and I assume eventually 100Gig in the future given the density and traffic require it. To get to the customer any means can be used, DWDM or straight fiber. But remember cost per customer is always the factor, ROI, so expect cheaper electronics and more passive devices as you get into the access network.
Google did this to push 2 things. One, the development of gigabit applications and two, push the service providers to move higher speeds to the home. I'd be very surprised if Google was ever interested in the service provider space, too capital heavy and too low margins. Better to back net neutrality, SLAs and have consumer buy dumb pipes from the carriers. But first the pipes have to be there.
The other thing to consider is what content is there to ingest at the home at 1 Gig? I've got 50M, and the internet is already slowing me down, sure if I was aggregating my neighbors collectively, but just myself, most sites on the internet won't let me download that quickly, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, just saying that 50M per person in a household today is good for 90% of the typical needs including watching HD streams. I guess one could argue peer to peer traffic, but I doubt that will be a main consideration to those that will be offering the services.
Just my opinion.
Another thing that kind of surprised me was no one mentioned much when ATT made a Gigabit anouncement early this month.