CommScope Seeks to Unify Cable's Next-Generation 'DOCSIS 4.0' Network Standard

Tech vendor CommScope said Thursday that it's close to developing hardware and software that supports both flavors of the cable industry's new DOCSIS 4.0 network standard.

Chuck Treadway, chairman and CEO of the struggling Claremont, N.C. company, told equity analysts during CommScope's Q2 earnings report that his engineers could have products such as amplifiers and nodes able to support both Full Duplex DOCSIS (FDX) and Extended Spectrum DOCSIS (ESD) by the time the annual SCTE CableTec Expo conference convenes in late September.

DOCSIS stands for "Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications." That's a globally recognized telecommunications standard allowing for high-bandwidth data to be transferred over existing coaxial cable systems.

DOCSIS 4.0 is the next iteration of this standard, allowing cable companies to eventually deliver symmetrical internet speeds of 10 megabits per second or faster.

However, there are two variations of the standard , both developed by industry consortium CableLabs to extend the life of hybrid fiber-coaxial cable for decades.

Full Duplex DOCSIS has more rigid upgrade requirements, which have eased a bit as the technology has been developed. (Originally, FDX required fiber nodes to be pushed out deep into the network in a so-called "node+0" configuration.)

But FDX is the preferred DOCSIS flavor for Comcast, which is already working with tech vendor Broadcom on cable modems, amplifiers and nodes that support both FDX and ESD.

ESD, meanwhile, has less rigid upgrade requirements, but a lower ceiling -- its spectrum limit 1.8GHz (up from about 1.2GHz for today's DOCSIS 3.1 networks). Charter Communications and Cox Communications have been an early supporters of ESD, but they're also looking closely at FDX solutions.

Cable network technology is now a priority for debt-strapped CommScope, which paid $45.1 million at auction in May to acquire bankrupt rival Casa Systems' cable network assets. CommScope, which is around $9 billion of debt, has also recently sold off part of its business , including its customer premises equipment division to Europe's Vantiva back in November.

CommScope said its second-quarter sales declined 12.7% to $1.38 billion.