Vistance’s RUCKUS sale enables it to focus on DOCSIS 4.0 and beyond opportunities
Key Highlights
- Vistance sold its RUCKUS division to Belden and its CCS segment to Amphenol, shifting focus to cable-centric solutions under the Vistance Networks brand.
- The company is advancing DOCSIS 4.0 technology, shipping over 500,000 FDX amplifiers and developing unified nodes to enhance multi-gigabit broadband delivery.
- Vistance's Aurora Networks reported a 33% increase in net sales, driven by DOCSIS 4.0 deployments, while RUCKUS experienced a 6.3% revenue growth, reflecting strong market demand.
- Cable operators are significantly increasing their investments in DAA equipment and Wi-Fi 7 routers, supporting the expansion of multi-gigabit services in 2026.
- Vistance is exploring acquisitions and new technologies to maximize the value of its remaining Aurora business and meet the evolving needs of cable MSOs.
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· CommScope rebrands as Vistance Networks following CCS sale to Amphenol
With the pending $1.8 billion sale of its RUCKUS division to Belden, Vistance has taken another step toward becoming a cable-industry-centric supplier.
RUCKUS is not the only divestiture that Vistance, formerly CommScope, has made. In January, the company closed the sale of its Connectivity and Cable Solutions (CCS) segment to Amphenol. It adopted the new Vistance Networks brand, focusing on broadband access and Wi-Fi.
Chuck Treadway, President and CEO of Vistance Networks, told investors during its first-quarter earnings call that the Ruckus sale will leave only its Aurora business in the portfolio, adding that it will look for ways to enhance the business for its cable MSO customer base.
“With the announcement of the RUCKUS transaction, we're excited to focus our attention on maximizing the value of Aurora, including exploring acquisitions, mergers, and investment in new technology that will take us well beyond the DOCSIS 4.0 upgrade cycle,” he said.
Taking a cue from its cable customers that want a supplier with stability and scale, Treadway said that it will look at “bolt-on accretive acquisitions that can provide us, as you say, product or customer expansion.”
Advancing DOCSIS 4.0
A key focus of Vistance’s Aurora Networks brand is enabling its cable MSO customers to advance their DOCSIS 4.0 rollouts and beyond.
Vistance has continued to advance its status as a supplier to Comcast with its FDX amplifier deployment. The DOCSIS 4.0 FDX network upgrades allow Comcast to deliver symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds across multiple CPE devices and support substantially larger ingest capacity.
Treadway said that since the beginning of 2025, the company has shipped over 500,000 FDX amplifiers.
“We continue to make headway with our suite of next-generation ESD DOCSIS 4.0 amplifiers and are now shipping to multiple large North American MSOs,” he said. “We expect shipments to ramp up over the next couple of quarters, and these products will continue to ship over multiple years.”
He added that Vistance is also making progress on the unified products, with a product expected in the second quarter and shipments beginning in the second half of this year.
“The unified node allows our customers to choose between 1.8 GHz ESD and FDX technologies within a single device,” Treadway said. “The unified amplifiers have started lab testing, and we expect to start shipping at the beginning of 2027.”
Vistance is also making progress with its VCCAP solution with Vodafone Germany. In March 2026, HUBER+SUHNER and Aurora Networks announced they had helped Vodafone Germany deploy live Distributed Access Architecture and virtual CMTS technologies to upgrade its cable network using existing HFC infrastructure.
The network upgrade includes Aurora Networks' cloud-native vCCAP Evo, which provides significant enhancements to the operator's service offerings and paves the way to DOCSIS 4.0. The network upgrade includes Aurora Networks' cloud-native vCCAP Evo, paving the way to DOCSIS 4.0.
“This deployment demonstrates the flexibility of our standards-based solution to best meet the unique requirements of multiple operator environments,” Treadway said.
But Vistance is not solely focused on DOCSIS 4.0.
It continued developing its next-gen PON products. As part of that effort, it established a partnership with a Tier 1 CALA customer that’s focused on its access and core network evolution through the deployment of Vistance’s VistvBNG Evo and PON Evo Series 200 remote optical line terminals (OLTs).
While Treadway did not identify the customer, he noted that “they are migrating to a fiber to the home access architecture based on GPON and XGS-PON technologies with the Aurora PON Evo Series 200 remote OLT, which has been deployed in some of the largest CALA regions, offering both residential and business broadband services.”
DOCSIS 4.0 expansions drive cable spending
Vistance's moves with its cable customers highlight the fact that cable is dedicating capital to its upgrades in 2026.
As cable operators expand their DOCSIS 4.0 deployments, a recent Dell’Oro Group report found that they are accelerating DAA equipment spending by 40%.
Tier 1 North American cable operators resumed spending on DAA equipment as part of their DOCSIS 4.0 network evolution strategies, while also accelerating purchases of residential Wi-Fi 7 routers and gateways to support their multi-gig service tiers.
"Cable operators paused their spending on DAA equipment in 2025 as they waited on upgraded platforms that incorporate the Unified DOCSIS 4.0 chipset," said Jeff Heynen, Vice President with Dell'Oro Group.
He added that "With those platforms available, US cable operators are moving ahead quickly with their network evolution strategies and entering a phase of relatively high capital intensity.
Overall, Dell’Oro found that the Broadband Access equipment market reached $4.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 2 percent year-over-year, but down 8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2025.
Aurora, RUCKUS revenue gains
For the fourth quarter, Vistance reported that continuing operations net sales in the first quarter of 2026 increased 21.6% year-over-year to $471.8 million, driven by higher net sales in both the Aurora and RUCKUS segments. Net sales increased across all regions, except the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) region and Canada.
Aurora Networks’ net sales of $298 million were up 33% in the first quarter compared to the prior year, and adjusted EBITDA was up 32%.
Treadway said Aurora’s “increases were primarily driven by the continued deployment of our DOCSIS 4.0 amplifier and node products.”
Likewise, Ruckus reported gains in the quarter, with revenue of $173.4 million, up 6.3% from the prior-year period.
“Core RUCKUS net sales of $173 million increased by 14% versus the first quarter of 2025, driven by market demand as well as our go-to-market and vertical initiatives,” said Kyle Lorentzen, EVP and CFO of Vistance Networks.
Income from continuing operations of $231.7 million, or $1.02 per share, in the first quarter of 2026, decreased compared to the same prior year period’s income from continuing operations of $341.1 million, or $1.50 per share.
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Sean Buckley
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