Cable operator Suddenlink has made good on its promise to step up to gigabit broadband service provision. The company last week announced it has begun to market 1-Gbps broadband in Bryan-College Station, TX; Nixa, MO; and Greenville and Rocky Mount, NC. Rather than using fiber to the home (FTTH), however, Suddenlink is leveraging DOCSIS 3.0 technology according to media reports, such as this one from Multichannel News.
Suddenlink announced its "Operation GigaSpeed" initiative last August, followed by preliminary speed increases launched late last year and early this year. In describing the four markets as "the first" to receive service, it would appear the company plans to expand its gigabit footprint in the future. In the August announcement, Suddenlink said it plans to offer 1 Gbps to 90% of its markets by 2017.
Customers in the four markets not ready for a gigabit will see their download speeds increase anyway. Suddenlink says its 75- and 100-Mbps subscribers will now enjoy rates of 100 and 200 Mbps, respectively, at no additional charge.
The Suddenlink announcement of 1 Gbps via hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) comes as other operators have embraced FTTH to achieve this capability (see, for example, "Comcast one ups Google Fiber, AT&T with 2-Gbps broadband in Atlanta" and "Cox’s G1GABLAST reaches Arizona, California, Nebraska, and Nevada"). While DOCSIS 3.1 is likely to be the primary vehicle to reach gigabit speeds on HFC infrastructure, the Multichannel News report cites a Suddenlink official as saying the company has managed to leverage DOCSIS 3.0 via "equipment upgrades and channel bonding."
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