Comcast certifies Terayon’s DOCSIS 2.0-capable

Terayon Communication Systems yesterday got some much-needed validation for its line of DOCSIS 2.0-capable cable modems when Comcast, the nation’s third-largest cable operator, certified the units for use in its high-speed Internet network. A source said Comcast would buy as many as 15,000 of the 2.0-capable units for deployment throughout its network.

Terayon is first out of the gate with the high-powered units--even ahead of CableLabs’ final certification. The California-based vendor is counting on its ability to quickly deliver 2.0-grade products as a differentiator in a crowded, price-sensitive cable modem market.

“[Comcast is] not the first U.S. MSO to purchase this modem,” said Elisa Camahort, Terayon’s senior product marketing director. “Although we have not publicly divulged the names of the others, we will be fulfilling orders with three of the top four U.S. MSOs for this modem.”

DOCSIS 2.0 is a big step up from DOCSIS 1.1. It can deliver symmetrical speeds up to 30 Mb/s compared with 1.1’s asymmetrical 27 Mb/s downstream, 6 Mb/s upstream. It includes two modulation techniques--synchronous code division multiple access (S-CDMA), which has been in the Terayon product arsenal since Day 1, and advanced frequency agile time division multiple access (A-TDMA).

Because it is so robust, it is often seen as cable’s product for the commercial space. Camahort, however, would not niche the product into that somewhat limited arena.

“You can throw this in there with any of the mass market cable modems, only you have something that nobody else can claim to have right now,” she said.

“It’s not about what an individual user can get. We do have some customers who are testing it and trialing it for that purpose, but it’s more about getting more users per channel, and therefore making money for the operator and improving the operator’s experience,” she said.

Although Camahort admitted that 2.0 specifications are “still a little bit of a moving target,” she said that Terayon’s silicon supports A-TDMA and S-CDMA. “We are the only DOCSIS 2.0 product out there that actually supports the full potential of the specification with both technologies.”

There is, she added, a relatively small price differential between a 1.1-certified product and a 2.0 unit. “I don’t know why you would buy a non-2.0-based modem when you can get the 2.0-based modem” for nearly the same price,” she said.