DOCSIS, fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP), 5G, and G.Fast are among the core technology ingredients necessary in the engineering stew to create the overall “Gigabit Society” envisioned by the European Commission by 2025. But DOCSIS may have a particularly key role to play in making it happen faster. Those conclusions came from a statement released this week by Liberty Global based on an independent report it commissioned from media and telecommunications consultant Communications Chambers.
The research dives into suggestions for the quickest and most cost-efficient potentials for reaching the EC’s goals for access to high-speed broadband by 2025. The Commission has reportedly set targets of 1 Gbps for socio-economic drivers, such as schools, hospitals, and large businesses and a minimum speed of 100 Mbps for all households, which would also be upgradeable to deliver speeds of a Gig and faster.
DOCSIS, FTTP, 5G, and G.Fast are all capable of meeting the 2025 targets, the report notes, but DOCSIS got a big shout-out. Gigabit speeds could be achieved as early as the end of 2017 using DOCSIS, the research says, which is eight years ahead of schedule and at a lower cost than FTTP. The report also cheers policymakers who are being technology-neutral and suggests that a policy of focusing solely on FTTP could prove dicey.
“The wrong intervention could be wasteful, or even damaging,” the report states. “For example, support for an expensive and slow-to-deploy technology could drive up prices and paralyze investment in other technologies, which might have delivered improved performance more quickly.”
Australia is pointed to as an example, which the research says had its broadband actually become worse after a government push on fiber-to-the-home. It also says Korea and Japan’s government interventions to support FTTP have also been “disappointing.”
“Both countries have performed relatively poorly in their use of socially or economically valuable internet applications, such as e-government and e-health, despite their superior (and expensive) infrastructure,” the report says.
Robert Kenny, founder at Communications Chambers and co-author of the report, says the investment already underway by cable operators could make gigabit broadband available to around half the premises in Europe by 2018, which is well ahead of the EC’s stated target of 2025. “This will allow the Commission (and member states) to focus elsewhere, where interventions are necessary,” he adds.
Liberty Global also announced its GIGAWorld strategy this week, outlining the operator’s plans to bring gigabit speeds to the 12 European countries it serves. Around 50 million homes in Europe reportedly have access to Liberty Global’s fiber-based GIGAReady networks, and CEO Mike Fries says it is expanding to millions more over the next few years.
