Rogers takes latest DOCSIS 3.0 shot

Canada's DOCSIS 3.0 race continues to heat up as Rogers Cable launches its DOCSIS 3.0-based wideband service in select areas of greater Toronto. Rogers' Ultimate High-Speed Internet service, which will offer 50 Mbps downstream and upstream speeds of up to 2 Mbps, is available for $149.99 per month. Initially, the service will be offered to business customers and then eventually expanded to the rest of the country. Previously, Rogers launched what it believes is the fastest home networking element--the DOCSIS 3.0 N gateway.

Analysts applauded Rogers' efforts. "DOCSIS 3 is a critical last-mile technology that allows cable companies to more than double their Internet speeds and to compete with fibre-optic delivery systems," said Lawrence Surtees, vice-president of communications research at IDC Canada Ltd. of Toronto. "Customers will also benefit from the deployment of DOCSIS 3.0 because it enables Rogers Cable to enhance the allowances of their Internet service tiers for no extra charge to customers."

Rogers' new service highlights a recent surge in North American DOCSIS 3.0 activity amongst the large cable MSOs. Fellow Canadian cable MSO Videotron launched one of the first DOCSIS 3.0-based services in North America last year, while Shaw Cable said it will have DOCSIS 3.0 services available in most of its footprint by the end of 2009. Meanwhile, U.S.-based cable operators such as Cox and Comcast continue to expand their respective DOCSIS 3.0 offerings in key East [1] and West Coast [2] markets.

For more:
- CED has this article [3]

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