Following decades of focusing mainly on expanding their downstream spectrum, cable operators are now seeking to increase their upstream capacity to handle the heavier loads on their networks caused by wvideo conferencing, online gaming, work-from-home and other bandwidth-intensive applications during the pandemic. Operators are pursuing both short and long-term strategies, especially spectrum mid-splits and high-splits, to boost their upstream capacity without sacrificing downstream space.

This webinar will examine the leading upstream expansion options, the hurdles involved in carrying them out and the ways to overcome those hurdles.

Led by CableLabs, cable technologists are bringing coherent detection to the cable access network to boost the efficiency and capacity of existing fiber links. Based on CableLabs’ 100G Point-to-Point (P2P) Coherent Optics specification, optical vendors have developed cutting-edge optical aggregation nodes and coherent termination devices to provide symmetrical 100 Gbps capacity per wavelength on fiber optics in the access network. These high-capacity optical links can aggregate traffic for nodes in a distributed access architecture; wireless backhaul; data centers and enterprises. With cable operators deploying P2P coherent optics out to the nodes today, the next set of specifications, for 100G Coherent PON (CPON), are being developed to apply coherent optics to both infrastructure and fiber-to-the-home use cases.

How much difference will all this make? What work must still be done? When might 100G CPON products be available? This webinar will delve into these issues and more.

With tens of billions of dollars in government subsidies now available to build new broadband networks in unnerved and underserved areas, cable operators and rival providers are lining up for grants to build new fiber, HFC and wireless networks and help close the Digital Divide. But, even with those public subsidies in place, that task is much easier said than done because of the equipment, labor, materials, contractors, regulatory, energy costs and other hurdles they face. How are cablecos and their vendor partners tackling these issues? What types of networks are they planning and building?

This webinar will delve into these issues and more.

The DOCSIS 4.0 era is drawing ever nearer as such leading MSOs as Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vodafone Germany, Liberty Global and others continue to test the twin flavors of the next-gen spec in their labs and leading vendors continue to develop the amplifiers, taps, nodes, modems and other gear to support them. Where does the industry stand with both Full Duplex DOCSIS (FDX) and Extended Spectrum DOCSIS (ESD) now? When will pilot and commercial deployments begin?

In this session, we review the latest tech and field trials, equipment development progress and spectrum upgrade plans.

Even as they prep for DOCSIS 4.0 and other HFC plant upgrades, cable operators are rapidly installing more fiber lines to expand bandwidth capacity, offer faster data speeds, launch new services, slash operating costs and compete with fiber-happy rivals like AT&T and Verizon. Yet, even as they invest more heavily in fiber, cablecos face critical questions about their upgrade strategies, their timing and the costs involved.

This webinar will explore cable's embrace of fiber builds, the opportunities that more fiber enables and the deployment, testing, operational and other challenges that it presents for the industry.

While the cable industry maintains its love affair with DOCSIS, it is increasingly finding room in its heart for PON as well. As operators add more fiber lines to their legacy HFC plant, or in some cases even overbuild their old plant with fiber networks, they are turning more and more to GPON, EPON and XGS-PON technology to expand their bandwidth capacity and deliver faster data speeds and other more advanced services. How is cable's evolution to fiber and next-gen versions of PON going? What speed bumps is the industry hitting? How can cablecos mix and match DOCSIS and PON services?

This webinar will address these questions and more.

As another busy year of technology development winds down, the cable industry is now starting to deliver on its promise to offer multi-gig speeds to subscribers over its legacy HFC network. Leading MSOs like Comcast and Altice USA are rolling our 2 Gig and faster service, lab and field trials of both flavors of DOCSIS 4.0 are moving forward and vendors are developing the relevant equipment and software to support the higher speeds and greater bandwidth demands. What comes next in the 10G evolution? What will the new year bring for cable's 10G quest? What challenges must still be overcome?

In this year-end session, we will look at where cable stands nearly five years into the 10G era.