Altice USA’s recently released news that it is skipping DOCSIS 3.1 and going all-in on a fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) strategy for ultra high-speed data delivery was referenced several times at this week’s UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York. But when asked about his company’s specific future strategies for widespread gigabit rollouts, Comcast CFO Mike Cavanagh reiterated the operator’s D3.1 commitment.

He pointed out that Comcast has fiber fairly deep in its network, but D3.1 is a big part of its immediate plans. “For us, from where we sit, we’re rolling out DOCSIS 3.1. We think that’s the most effective and efficient way to give big speeds across the footprint most quickly, most economically,” he said.

Cavanagh also noted the company wants to stay ahead of its subscribers’ need for speed, even before they know they want it. “We want to be there with more speed, more capacity before anybody figures out what they are using it for, so we’re not shying away from continuing to do that,” he said. “In a couple of years’ time, we’ll have the next-generation DOCSIS, which will allow for a multi-gig symmetrical. So, that’s our roadmap. Nothing changes about that roadmap.”

He did follow that observation up quickly with a comment that Comcast will maintain the ability “to take fiber directly all the way anywhere where it makes sense.” Currently that’s in multiple dwelling units (MDUs) and also on the business services side as well as in greenfield builds, Cavanagh said.

Cavanagh also touched on Comcast’s wireless service plans, which garnered a lot of attention in September when CEO Brian Roberts reported it would leverage Comcast’s 15 million WiFi hot spots and use leased airwaves from Verizon based on an MVNO that allows the cable op to offer wireless services.

“It’s going well,” Cavanagh said at the conference when asked about Comcast’s work on wireless. “We have work to do to design the exact offering we want to have and lots of bits and pieces that go along with getting that right. We have an opportunity, we believe, to bring a product to our customer base. It’s obviously got to be with people that are otherwise buying products from us that we have an affinity with to begin with.”

Comcast is in the “learn and explore mode,” Cavanagh said, but added that by the UBS conference a year from now, the operator may have some results to point toward.