According to a recent report, cable operators are starting to embrace the cable industry’s converged cable access platform (CCAP) over traditional cable modem termination systems (CMTS.)
The recent first quarter was another record setter for CCAP revenue, which jumped 177 percent sequentially while CMTS revenue dropped 76 percent.
“In a dramatic shift, the vast majority of cable operator spending in the first quarter of 2014 (1Q14) went toward new CCAP (converged cable access platform) equipment instead of the bedrock of cable broadband, CMTS,” said Jeff Heynen, principal analyst for broadband access and pay TV at Infonetics Research. “Cable operators are on a steady path of adding significant channel capacity as part of DOCSIS 3.0, IP video, business service, carrier Wi-Fi, and forthcoming DOCSIS 3.1 rollouts.”
This year’s first quarter marked another record quarter for CMTS and CCAP channel shipments, owing mainly to a 229 percent sequential jump in CCAP channel shipments worldwide. The shift to CCAP was most notable in the North American market, where quarterly revenue dropped 13 percent despite CMTS and CCAP channel shipments jumping 20 percent.
In North America, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Comcast have been active with CCAP trials and limited deployments.
Also of note in the report, Arris took over the lead for worldwide CCAP and CMTS revenue in the most recent first quarter while Cisco was second. Casa Systems had a strong showing in the quarter by increasing its revenue by 13 percent thanks to customer wins here and abroad.