NXTcomm: CableLabs’ Green Says DOCSIS 3.0, OCAP Ready to Go This Year

NXTcomm keynoter CableLabs President and CEO Richard Green Thursday announced the cableco R&D organization over which he presides has finished certification and development of the cable modem standard DOCSIS 3.0 and expects consumer electronics devices supporting the interactive TV OCAP standard to hit retail outlets in time for the holidays.

DOCSIS 3.0, the cablecos’ answer to telco FTTx efforts, promises to bring 160mbps downstream and 120mbps upstream, at minimum, said Green. It does so by bonding multiple cable channels. Comcast Corp. plans to make “wideband” services, based on DOCSIS 3.0, available to 20 percent of users on its systems this year.

OCAP Standard

As for OCAP, Green said Panasonic expects to have gear supporting the standard, which the cablecos and their equipment partners are marketing as “True Two-Way,” by the Christmas holiday.

Because OCAP is based on Java “write once, run anywhere” technology, Green said CableLabs believes it will drive extensive development of new services from third parties.

“Open platforms in the access network are fundamental to attract innovators,” said Green, who also discussed telco-cableco cooperation through work on such things as IMS and through the Open Mobile Alliance.

While NXTcomm billed its show as extending beyond just telecom into other parts of the communications industry, Green was the only cable TV industry representative delivering a keynote address. He spoke on the last day of the event to a sparsely-populated room.

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