Motorola Launches DOCSIS 3.0 CPE for Cablecos

Hoping to provide anxious cablecos with the ability to boost the speed of network services in fierce competition with Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc. and others, Motorola Inc. on Thursday announced a line of DOCSIS 3.0 CPE.

DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems bond up to four channels to provide downstream speeds of up to 160mbps and upstream speeds of up to 120mbps. Motorola also introduced two modems for digital voice services. The vendor didn’t provide pricing.

DOCSIS 3.0 and related specifications are driven by Cable Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs), the non-profit, research and development unit for cable service providers This spec was issue by the organization last summer.

Motorola archrival Cisco Systems Inc.’s Scientific Atlanta company demoed a DOCSIS 3.0-compliant cable modem at the Consumer Electronics Show last month, for availability sometime this spring.

The Motorola cable modem is available now for certification by top cablecos, said a Motorola spokesperson, who did not have a date for when the unit would be available to others.

Regardless, triple-play providers, including Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, have been continually upgrading their Internet access services for the last several months to land new customers and retain current ones.

Top analyst firms such as Infonetics Research, BroadbandTrends.com and In-Stat have all detailed the importance of these offerings.

Cable colossus, and CableLabs' member, Comcast Corp. has already committed to pass up to 20 percent of customers with DOCSIS services by the end of this year. 

The Motorola DOCSIS 3.0 product line includes the SB6120 SURFboard Cable Modem, which provides operators throughput approximating 160mbps without the need for a hybrid fiber/coax plant upgrade.

The cable modem supports all DOCSIS 3.0 features including channel bonding, both IPv4 and IPv6, and advanced encryption services, according to Motorola.

The Motorola trio also includes the SBV6120 and SBV6220 Digital Voice Modems. The first offers one or two lines of digital voice service, while the other offers Lithium-ion battery backup, which provides power during a power outage.

The new units also support DOCSIS 1.X and 2.0 feature sets. Motorola said its DOCSIS 3.0 SURFboard CPE can be self-installed through the products’ rear panel icon and color coding connection guide. Troubleshooting is done via the units’ front-panel operational status LEDs.

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