Cable companies head for bandwidth meltdown

CABLE COMPANIES are facing a bandwidth crisis which is set to get worse according to a report released by ABI Research.

As punters are demanding more high-definition video, video on demand, online gaming, and higher-bandwidth Internet applications, the cable companies are starting to find they cannot cope, the report said.

Stan Schatt, VP and research director for ABI Research said that the looming crisis was a dirty little secret that no one in the industry will talk about.

He said that currently, cable providers need close to 750MHz of spectrum to deliver the goods, however that is not going to be enough in the future.

According to Ars Technica, cable providers will need more hardware to provide them with the spectrum they need. But it is going to cost them.

Schatt said that digital switching was the key and it will not be until the cable outfits move to IPTV that they will be brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Upgrading to fibre was more expensive and only likely to occur in areas where the cable companies are facing more competition, he said.

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