DOCSIS 3.1 continues to prove its worth for cable operators. Comcast Business (NASDAQ:CMCSA) recently announced its DOCSIS 3.1-based Internet service to business customers in the greater Boston and Philadelphia areas; New Jersey; northern Delaware; Baltimore; Charlottesville, VA; and Washington DC.
The company's Business Internet 1 Gig and Business Internet 500 speed tiers are already available in seven additional metropolitan markets, and there are plans to launch it in more locations in the fall. The goal is to complete rollout in the majority of Comcast's footprint by the end of 2018.
The grand thing about DOCSIS 3.1 is that there are no network upgrades required to jump to gigabit speeds, said Jeff Lewis, VP data product management, Comcast Business. "The reach is vastly superior to every other broadband Internet access option that exists."
DOCSIS 3.1 opens up the ability for cable operators to serve businesses of all sizes - even the largest enterprises. Cloud-based operations models depend on high-capacity, high-performance Internet connectivity.
"Distributed enterprises are clamoring for solutions like this," Lewis said. "If you have thousands of locations, (each) branch office looks like a small business …. DOCSIS 3.1 makes our story and solution set more powerful."
Additionally, both the speed and cost efficiencies that the gig-speed service can offer will be attractive to businesses across sectors, such as retail, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, education and government. While those market segments have demonstrated the need to pull up into the gigabit space, however, the list is not exclusive, Lewis said. The interest thus far has been related to the cloud. Businesses want "unfettered" access at branches instead of needing to use the data center.
In related news, Comcast Business currently is beta testing an SD-WAN solution that will combine the agility of a software-defined network (SDN) with gigabit speeds, Lewis said, noting there should be more news about this during the fourth quarter. Additionally, the company is getting ready to test a new purpose-built gateway-type device for business customers.
This reflects the fact that while the provision of business services mirrors residential in many aspects, there are nuances - dedicated network operations centers (NOCs) and guaranteed mean-time-to-repair (MTTR), and a care-of-operations structure for businesses, for example. All of which Comcast business is prepared to provide, Lewis said.
"The idea of using DOCSIS has always been an Internet access play …. Our DOCSIS portfolio is being used as an access technology for networking solutions," Lewis said. "We are supporting our customers in gaining access to critical cloud applications …. (We are seeing) an evolution of use paired with speed and ubiquity. The reach is crazy."