StarHub has reportedly achieved data speeds of up to 145Mbps after testing the new DOCSIS 3.0 standard and a Vyyo 3GHz spectrum overlay over its HFC network. The test results – apparently from both the lab and the field - come as the Singapore telecom regulator, the Infocomm Development Authority ponders StarHub’s DOCSIS 3.0 network upgrade as one of several possible solutions for its so-called Next Generation National Broadband Network.

Motorola vice president of marketing and business development, Connected Home Solutions Kevin Keefe said: “There has been considerable discussion over the past year regarding cable's ability to meet future residential and business services bandwidth needs. Through our work in Singapore and elsewhere with technologies like Vyyo Spectrum Overlay, we are proving that the industry has the flexibility within its existing HFC plant and DOCSIS 3.0 based network equipment like the Motorola BSR 64000 CMTS, to deliver the ultra-broadband data services that readily meet and exceed consumer broadband needs of the future.”

StarHub senior vice president, cable, fixed and IP services Thomas Ee said that the technology allowed it to leverage existing existing infrastructure investment, something he said was “critically important.” StarHub said its trials used Vyyo’s XHUB node product, XFR trunk amplifier, XTB CPE device and passive elements to double downstream bandwidth and increase upstream bandwidth by a factor of at least four. Motorola equipment involved in the tests included the Motorola BSR 64000 Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) and Motorola SB6100 channel-bonding cable modems.

The current DOCSIS standards provide for speeds of up to 38 Mbps downstream, and between 9 and 27 upstream. 3.0 aims to increase this to 160Mbps downstream and 120Mbps upstream, shared at the node. Development of the DOCSIS 3.0 standard has been primarily motivated by the desire of US cable operators to remain competitive with AT&T and Verizon as they push fibre closer to the premises and promise speeds of 25 Mbps to 50Mbps and more.

Currently most cable broadband operators cap their commercial Internet products at 10Mbps downstream with some exceptions – Cablevision in the US and some smaller European operators, along with Big Pond in Australia which offers up to 17Mbps and, soon, 30 Mbps. StarHub appears to be the first HFC operator in the world to offer DOCSIS 3.0 service with speeds of “up to 100Mbps”, its next-tier product promises speeds of up to 30Mbps.

Vyyo issued a white paper in the US this week that explains some of the technical issues behind  the upgrade to higher speeds. In the paper, entitled “Preparing For An Unknown Future,” bandwidth analyst and Vyyo vice president, corporate development Jeff Fryling said only two “fibre-deep cable architectures” - 1 GHz with mid-split and spectrum overlay - can provide the throughput necessary for such services as T1, DOCSIS 3.0, 145 Mbps high-speed data, 100 channels of high-definition TV and HDTV on-demand. The paper concludes that the spectrum overlay architecture is the only one that can deliver the needed capacity at a fraction of the cost of telco fibre, and without increasing current operator capex levels. In a 125-home node, fiber-deep configuration, the paper states that 3 GHz spectrum overlay is approximately 40% of the cost of the 1 GHz/mid-split architecture.

“Getting to 125-homes service groups with a mid-split would cost about $US380 million for a one million home system,” the paper claims. “To execute spectrum overlay for a comparable network would cost approximately $US150 million, a significant savings for cable operators and a far cry from the amount they spent on the last capital expenditure cycle.”

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