Quote:
Originally Posted by FlameOn
Something like this can only be achieved but aggressively reducing the number of homes on a node. i.e. adding more fiber to the backbone of the network while not digging up all of the stuff going into customer homes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_fibre-coaxial
And throwing away all of the existing (router/switches) and bulk upgrading to ones on the newest standard. |
It probably isn't very well advertised to the consumer how fast coax actually is over short distances. Cable MSO's really don't need to upgrade the drop into your home for a very long time and still have a very competitive alternative to an actual fibre drop. DOCSIS 3.1 for example is rated for at least 10Gbps down and 1Gbps up. Cable Labs has run tests that have achieved as high as 50Gbps in a theoretical lab setting.
Per above, as long as they make sure that the backbone going into the neighbourhood is sufficient to reasonably service all the homes, they could theoretically keep going without having to come door knocking to ask permission to pull fibre directly to the premises.
The single largest hurdle right now for all the traditional cable companies is the fact that they are stuck with traditional QAM broadcast, which sends you all the channels whether you are watching it or not. Expect to see all the traditional cable MSO's move towards IP over the next decade.