Midsized US MSO becomes the latest cable operator to launch field trials of new gigabit-enabling broadband spec.

Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

February 10, 2016

2 Min Read
Midco Joins DOCSIS 3.1 Parade

Stepping further into the Gigabit Cities limelight, Midco is preparing to start field trials of DOCSIS 3.1 and gigabit service in its first market next month.

Formerly known as Midcontinent Communications (Midco) , Midco said it will start the trials of its new Midco Gig service in Fargo, N.D. sometime in March. It then plans to expand Gig service to a second market, Sioux Falls, S.D., by the end of the year.

Under its Gigabit Initiative, Midco intends to make 1-Gig service available to about 600,000 homes and 55,000 businesses across its four-state service area in the upper Midwest by the close of 2017. The MSO has about 330,000 cable subscribers in nearly 350 communities. (See More Cable Operators Go Gigabit.)

Midco has already deployed Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)'s Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) product to boost network capacity for the new DOCSIS 3.1 spec. Initially, Midco leveraged the cBR-8 platform to support DOCSIS 3.0 service, but its plans call for using the chassis for DOCSIS 3.1-based services as well. (See Midco Deploys Cisco's cBR-8 CCAP.)

Want to get the lowdown on DOCSIS 3.1 and the other latest tech advances in the cable market? Then sign up now for Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies, taking place at the Cable Center in Denver on Thursday, March 10.

Midco thus joins a growing number of cable operators planning to introduce 1-Gig or even multi-gigabit service, with or without the help of DOCSIS 3.1. Suddenlink Communications , Cable One Inc. , Mediacom Communications Corp. , General Communication Inc. (GCI) (Nasdaq: GNCMA), Wave Broadband and Atlantic Broadband are some of the other midsized and smaller operators doing the same.

— Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Alan Breznick

Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

Alan Breznick is a business editor and research analyst who has tracked the cable, broadband and video markets like an over-bred bloodhound for more than 20 years.

As a senior analyst at Light Reading's research arm, Heavy Reading, for six years, Alan authored numerous reports, columns, white papers and case studies, moderated dozens of webinars, and organized and hosted more than 15 -- count 'em --regional conferences on cable, broadband and IPTV technology topics. And all this while maintaining a summer job as an ostrich wrangler.

Before that, he was the founding editor of Light Reading Cable, transforming a monthly newsletter into a daily website. Prior to joining Light Reading, Alan was a broadband analyst for Kinetic Strategies and a contributing analyst for One Touch Intelligence.

He is based in the Toronto area, though is New York born and bred. Just ask, and he will take you on a power-walking tour of Manhattan, pointing out the tourist hotspots and the places that make up his personal timeline: The bench where he smoked his first pipe; the alley where he won his first fist fight. That kind of thing.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like