Spotlight on 10G at 2019 SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo

At the start of 2019, the broadband industry came together to announce the 10G platform at CES. Last week in New Orleans, at the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo – less than ten months later – 10G took center stage, highlighting how the cable and broadband industry is coming together to make the connectivity platform of the future a reality. Throughout this week-long event, attendees dove into all the progress being made on the 10G initiative.

The event kicked off with a pre-Expo panel titled, “Mission 10G: Implementing Forward Looking Capabilities in Your Network.” Experts from CableLabs, Comcast, Intel, Charter and CommScope took the stage to explore how the industry will reach 10G speeds and how 10G will be integral in advancing the progress towards reaching 5G, as well.

Discussing just how the industry will be able to achieve its goal of delivering 10Gbps service to consumers across all end-user devices, expert panelists highlighted how the combination of cutting-edge technology like DOCSIS 4.0 and Wi-Fi 6 with 6 GHz will provide the increase in capacity needed power the next generation of technologies and applications in areas such as telemedicine, agriculture, retail, smart cities and gaming.

The panel also explored other key aspects of 10G aside from speed, including low latency. Latency is absolutely critical to the 10G platform, as technologies such as AR and VR, cloud gaming and light field displays will be dependent on the lower latencies 10G will bring. This is why, when Low Latency DOCSIS trials begin in 2020, there will be a focus on gaming and how the industry can bring the best experiences possible to esports, cloud gamers and more as we start to implement Low Latency DOCSIS across networks as one part of the path to 10G service.

Another highlight from the Expo was the opening general session – “10G: A Game-Changer for Cable – And Our Customers.” Executives from NCTA, CableLabs and Intel provided insights on how the long-term goal of 10G for the industry will advance network convergence. Panelists explained how, thanks to its increased bandwidth and capacity, 10G will enable the immersive experiences we can currently only dream of – such as holographic displays and interactive video walls. These new technologies – enabled by 10G – will forever change our homes, classrooms and places of work.

At the Innovation Theater, 10G owned the spotlight. Highlighting the technology needed to achieve 10G and how the 10G platform’s low latency will help improve the mobile experience, attendees were given insight to how technologies, such as Low Latency Xhaul (LLX) will provide operators the ability to support mobile fronthaul and backhaul over the broadband network. By reducing latency, LLX will help to deliver consumers a seamless experience when using applications such as games, video chat and video conferencing on their mobile devices.

As the industry looks toward 2020, we’re excited for the continued progress in 10G and even bigger milestones on the road ahead to delivering 10G capabilities to consumers. With field trials on the way, more technologies in development and exciting projects in the works with partners across the industry, we are looking forward to showing you what the future can be!