CenturyLink, provider of Internet, TV and Voice, recently announced in August its plans to provide 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) services in 16 cities, 10 cities for residential and business clients and six cities for solely business clients. The company’s competitor, Cox Communications, will be providing similar services in Phoenix during the fourth quarter of 2014.
Cox’s role in this showdown will be pulling a GPON-based FTTP technology combination and spreading it throughout the rest of the market’s area using DOCSIS 3.1-enabled devices.
Kevin Hart, Cox’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, stated that this top priority execution is on track, adding that its introduction will include FTTH and reach greenfield areas consisting of new housing, in addition to some of the excess supply for existing neighborhoods.
Phoenix, the first market Cox will serve, is also undergoing a 1-Gigabit ongoing project planned by CenturyLink. After Cox launches fiber-based 1 Gbps service in Phoenix, the company will extend its services to Las Vegas and Omaha. By 2016, Cox plans to cover all of its markets with 1 Gbps service. Hart stated, “There are probably three or four different factors that are helping us shape the build curve.” He asserted that GPON will be initially be used, eventually using DOCSIS 3.1 to vastly expand. DOCSIS 3.1, an international telecommunications regulation allowing rapid data to allocate to a cable TV (CATV) system, will be used as products become obtainable.
“We’re quite pleased with the market reception,” Hart said. “But we’re not just trying to cherry-pick; we’re just trying to spread it out, and then continue with the 3.1 deployment.”
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