4K off, Google Fiber: Comcast, Broadcom tout 2Gbps cable

By this time next year, we should be able to stream 4K video over home cable internet connections. That's according to Comcast, which has promised a gigabit-broadband service using a modem designed by Broadcom. The BCM93390 modem includes "the world's first DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem system-on-a-chip," referring to the new …

[Ian Tresman]

Gigabit broadband require

We need Gigabit broadband, not the government's 2Mb joke. A typical family of 5 may each want a couple of their own 4K stream, each person watching their own programme of video, plus a separate screen for video conferencing, previewing etc.

[returnmyjedi]

Re: Gigabit broadband require

Tsk. In my day the family would huddle around one telly and argue about whether to watch Top of the Pops or Corrie, none of this 4k streaming lark or video conferencing / Snap chat naughty picture sharing.

[Andy Tunnah]

Re: Gigabit broadband require

Don't get me wrong I'm all for faster internet, but your usage scenario is bonkers.

Barely any families at the moment use a high number of concurrent streams of HD (usually 720p), even a big family is rarely seen using more than 2 or 3.

Considering there is barely any 4K material (and even less desktop users able to display it), it's gonna be a long time before even 1 person uses it exclusively, nevermind the entire family.

[Number6]

Using "Comcast" and "High Speed" in the same sentence is a bit of an oxymoron. They don't have a very good reputation around here for bandwidth. You may have a 50Mbit/s link from your cable modem into their system, but then you're contending for the same bit of wet string as everyone else to actually connect to anything else, even a YouTube video is unwatchable at peak times so 4K is a pipe dream.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Using "Comcast" and "High Speed" in the same sentence ..."

True, but this sentence is just a primer for Comcast to later use "4K" and "Premium" in the same $entence$.

"You may have a 50Mbit/s link from your cable modem into their system..."

You mean today? Yeh, and once I hit 88mph I should be able to acquire a deed to a bridge if you're interested.

[Florida1920]

Using "Comcast" and "High Speed" in the same sentence is a bit of an oxymoron.

Depends on where you live. In my condo complex I can watch European Netflix via VPN for hours with a single dropout maybe once every couple of days. Perhaps because my elderly neighbors only use the 'net to look at grandanklebiters' photos on Faceplant and get their video fix on conventional cable. Their loss, my gain. Location Location Location.

[Crazy Operations Guy]

"Depends on where you live."

Indeed, I'm on their 50mb plan, only 3 hops between me and the local POP, I regularly get 6 MB/s coming down from Steam and various bandwidth tests. Living two city blocks away from the POP really helps.

[Brandon 2]

Re: "Depends on where you live."

I get a lovely phone call from Comcast every month informing me that I have exceeded 300 GB and that they will be charging me $1/GB until the end of the month. No torrents, just a healthy steam library, Netflix, YouTube... how can they even talk about 4k streaming with DL caps at 300GB?

[leexgx]

as long as you do not want to stream netflix you be fine

[FuzzyTheBear]

Details ..details

Nice .. but at what price / month ?

That will be one killer bill i'm sure ..

[Richard Boyce]

IP broadcasts

The existing video cable transmission system sends potentially hundreds of channels simultaneously to each customer, despite no one and no device watching the vast majority of them at any one instant. As a consequence, when you do want to watch something, you see it aggressively compressed with consequent loss of picture quality.

So, the cable companies should switch to using IP transmission exclusively, transmitting only those streams that are wanted. The consumer can get better picture quality because of less compression, and the cable company can start to offer even more shopping channels. Of course, if we had better quality HD available for every channel, we might be less inclined to pay extra for 4K, and they know that.

[Unicornpiss]

Re: IP broadcasts

Most cable companies are already streaming video on demand for all channels, even if they look like standard continuously-broadcast channels. (at least in my neck of the woods)

[P. Lee]

Re: IP broadcasts

But that's what, a thousand channels? 1000 streams? How many subscribers do they have, how many streams would unique streaming require? The chokepoint is the server end, not the client.

The future is clear... take the load off the servers with p2p. ;)

My guess is that this is PR aimed at the FCC.

[Christian Berger]

The question is, how wrotten is your infrastructure?

Those specifications only work when you have a very decent cable infrastructure. Unlike the backbone where an upgrade usually just means swapping equipment located conveniently in data centres, cable network infrastructure is, at best, located in boxes at the side of the road, at worst in the ground below the house of someone who built it later.

The point about DOCSIS is to use that legacy infrastructure as long as possible, just like with ADSL or VDSL. What we would have to do right now is to get dedicated fibres into every household. Otherwise we'll now be left with expensive incremental updates which become obsolete after a couple of years.

[Terry Barnes]

Re: The question is, how wrotten is your infrastructure?

"Otherwise we'll now be left with expensive incremental updates which become obsolete after a couple of years."

Versus a really, really expensive upgrade to fibre that leaves the cable companies bankrupt after a couple of months.

[FunkyEric]

Only problem is you'll hit your monthly data cap after a day ;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

really

I think you mean 'an hour.'

[M W]

Gigabit is out there - just depends where you live

I've had 1Gb Fibre for over a year now, that's 1Gb down, 100Mb up. Residential cost is ~£60 a month

[-dp-]

Re: Gigabit is out there - just depends where you live

I just switched over to 500mbit download/200mbit upload fibre with Orange France. 33 euros a month for 12 months, after that 43 euros per month (inclusive of phone, TV) - they forgot to mention you have to rent the bloody tv box for 5 euros per month though, so right now it is 38 per month, will go up to 48 per month in a year (at which time I can look for an offer elsewhere).

I was using free (ADSL) - bloody crap as they throttle youtube. Happy to be rid of them, but miss their set top box, as it was the best I have ever had.

[Christopher E. Stith]

I get around 14 MiB (that's mebibytes, not bits) per second downloading from Steam on Comcast "105". Yet they like to drop the connection and make me wait for it to renegotiate after the first 20 to 30 minutes of any Netflix stream. Screw more speed. I want reliability when I use it the way I want.

[Justin Pasher]

A Good Thing(tm)

"The standard itself was developed at record speed as cable companies started to worry about the arrival of competitors, such as Google Fiber."

And this is exactly why competition in the technology space is so important. If this wasn't there, how long do you think it would be before they decided to even look into this kind of upgrade?

[Levente Szileszky]

Sounds like merger-oiling BS talk...

...because there is no way on Earth they would buy enough backhaul capacity to support NYC-sized gigabit upgrades at current prices - because while financially easily doable that would seriously lower their average 1000-1500% (!!!) markup on every delivered bytes cable companies enjoy for years now, thanks to their sheer abuse of market, based on simple monopolies (essentially cartel behavior: for example in NYC they literally won't go into each other's streets.)

[paul williams 3]

A 4k video stream with a 250gig monthly data cap. Comcast-TimeWarner must be salivating at the thought of all the over data cap charges they are going to hit subscribers with.

[Anonymous Coward]

thumbs up google

I know its pretty popular to bash google and they deserve it, sometimes. A few years ago "big cable" was saying "10MB/s is all anyone needs for broadband". Google starts rolling out their fiber and things really start to change. Competition is grand, we need more of it.

I was in Kansas City 2 winters ago running an underground crew doing google fiber. In some areas, ATT was right across the street running theirs. TWC, the local big cable outfit, upped their download speeds to the max their infrastructure would stand.

I've worked in cable systems across the US. The infrastructure is either in the process of "being rebuilt" or barely working. Most cable systems "get band-aids not upgrades". Why upgrade something you know is almost obsolete?

The cable companies, while providing the worst customer service in the communications industry, have extremely sharp beancounters. I wonder about the numbers on 50mb/s+ broadband penetration vs customers "cutting the cord" after they get there. I bet the cable companies don't. They can see what's coming. It must really suck to not only have to dig your own hole but also help to nail the coffin shut. It couldn't happen to a "nicer" bunch.

In my area, kodi + hd antenna + 90mb/s cable internet connection = Happy Customer (if only Cox would quit raising my rates) Fat chance. Cox is competing with Verizon fios around here, btw.

Sorry about the anonymous post. I've got to work somewhere. Contractors get black-balled frequently.