Comcast Begins Docsis 4.0 buildout in Houston.

Ultibeam · 2025-04-13T07:18:23+00:00

A new article from the Houston Chronicle states that Docsis 4.0 rollout has begun in Houston, TX. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/tech/article/comcast-cable-internet-new-technology-20265040.php Comcast won’t detail where service is available in the Houston area, saying it’s mostly concentrated in the northwest part of town, such as around Tidwell, and in some East Hubs neighborhoods east of downtown. Non-promotional pricing and speed tiers – with symmetrical download/upload speeds and no data caps – are competitive with fiber offerings from AT&T. 300 Mbps up/down is $55 a month; 500 Mbps is $65; 1 gigabit-per-second service is $85; and 2 Gbps is $115. Also: Nationally, 50% of Comcast’s network is DOCSIS 4.0 ready. That’s on track to hit 70% by the end of the year, Nafshi said. Not sure how ready that means.

meerkathalon

The tariff situation is likely to stabilize and resolve in the next month or so. I’d bet money on it. The media has a vested interest in getting people riled up.

kirkyg

CommunityMember So are you implying that some neighborhoods will see amp installs requiring a maintenance down cycle overnight similar to the midsplit upgrades but some areas will not? How would that work to install new FDX amps and not have downtime on the network?

kirkyg

cypherstream What does the terminology ‘full cut out’ mean?

telcodad

cypherstream The new FDX Amps will finally have Commscope branding. One is a full cut out, and one is a mod and lid swap (the lid also contains a new power supply).

kirkyg What does the terminology ‘full cut out’ mean?

I imagine it means a full replacement vs. just a replacement of the guts in an older housing.

CommunityMember

kirkyg So are you implying that some neighborhoods will see amp installs requiring a maintenance down cycle overnight similar to the midsplit upgrades but some areas will not? How would that work to install new FDX amps and not have downtime on the network?

There will be some downtime no matter, but swapping the guts (modules/lid) is, in theory, faster/easier than having to swap in an entirely new housing (and modules). In some cases the line techs can hang the replacement housing/modules in advance so the swap may be somewhat faster, but that is not always assured (and underground has it’s own challenges, no matter). I suspect Comcast expects most of the FDX amp updates can be done during the usual midnight to 6am maintenance window (which is reserved for maintenance and some outages should be expected), but you should not see the same extended (during the day) outages that occurred (and will occur?) in some locations with the mid-split DAA node updates (and swapping a Pebble-1 for a Pebble-2 (in a Harmonic node) should be reasonably quick, although there, too, an outage will happen (in all cases it takes a DAA node a number of minutes to reboot and reprovison itself)). As with all else, your specific location will vary as to the schedule for upgrades, and the outages that will occur.

Man-of-Leisure

Should be interesting to see how quickly they upgrade.

Are customers fleeing to fiber for the faster speeds? Or just lower, flat pricing, and no data caps and modem rental fees?

The people fleeing for fixed wireless obviously don’t care about speed, just price and data caps. Though they could also just switch to Comcast Prepaid and get the same thing for less money.

The recent 5 year price lock is also likely an experiment to see if that stops the customer bleeding, and determines how quickly they upgrade to 4.0.

2Gb download with mid-split upload, a free modem, and unlimited data might be enough to keep people from leaving, combined with better pricing.

I don’t think many customers are actually asking for 1Gb+ upload, or 5Gb symmetrical.

3.1 Enhanced combined with high-split upload seems like a cheaper alternative to 4.0.

Maybe Comcast will go all in on 4.0, but so far none of the other cable companies seem super interested in 4.0.

Has Charter even deployed it anywhere? I’ve only seen them doing their Phase 1 high-split upgrades.

CommunityMember

Man-of-Leisure Maybe Comcast will go all in on 4.0, but so far none of the other cable companies seem super interested in 4.0.

Charter is eyeing ESD D4.0 for later deployments of their high-split rollouts, and the one of the Canadian cablecos (Rogers?) is looking at FDX D4.0 (so is Mediacom in the states). While the numbers are likely skewed based on the large operator rollouts, reporting by those that follow these things closely suggest that something like 60-70% of the cable customers are expected to see some form of D4.0 deployed to them by the end of the decade.

cypherstream

There are some techs who claim if an area has not undergone project genesis (mid split) yet, that they will go straight to FDX. I don’t know what truth is on that, but it makes sense at some point in time there will be a break even point where it’s better to wait and go all the way.

Man-of-Leisure

CommunityMember Charter is eyeing ESD D4.0 for later deployments of their high-split rollouts

Originally, it was supposed to have happened by now.

CommunityMember and the one of the Canadian cablecos (Rogers?) is looking at FDX D4.0

They’re just in wait and see mode, and will follow whatever Comcast does.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure CommunityMember Charter is eyeing ESD D4.0 for later deployments of their high-split rollouts
Man-of-Leisure Originally, it was supposed to have happened by now.

That was overly optimistic Charter executives relaying the best case time lines based on promised equipment vendor delivery schedules, not real world activity. It was ALWAYS going to take longer than the executives said in a financial presentation. Charter is just wrapping up phase 1 based on various postings and starting phase 2 field upgrades. D4.0 wasn’t planned to happen until phase 3.

Comcast and others’ plans are equally overly optimistic when announced to investors by executives before actual launch. Based on best case economics, labor, vendor, etc., schedules. It’s the nature of the beast. They do NOT highlight problems before they happen.

CommunityMember

cypherstream There are some techs who claim if an area has not undergone project genesis (mid split) yet, that they will go straight to FDX.

And, as always with Comcast, “Your location will vary”. I know those that have not yet been mid-splitted (that is not a word?) may hope that is true, but we have not yet seen reports of such. Maybe there will be some insight from the earnings call next week (although I doubt the execs are going to get into the weeds of deployment).

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech Seems odd to do a combination of approaches, especially if they don’t plan to go back and upgrade phase 1 and 2 areas to phase 3.

Comcast’s plan seems to be upgrade everything to mid-split, then go back and upgrade to 4.0.

Charter doesn’t seem interested in doubling back, and will leave most of the network on 3.1 according to their announced plan.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure The various approaches by Charter were originally designed around when the vendors told Charter various components needed for Charter upgrades would be available.
https://ir.charter.com/static-files/3943ccd3-dd07-4dfa-9946-a9afd1bef557

Phase 1 uses available high-split equipment.
Phase 2 uses D3.1 vCMTS/DAA hub, DAA high-split 1.2Ghz nodes, and 1.2Ghz high-split amplifiers.
Phase 3 uses D4.0 vCMTS/DAA hub, DAA ultra-split 1.8Ghz nodes, and 1.8Ghz ultra-split amplifiers.

Once an area is upgraded, Charter will double back and upgrade further as needed by bandwidth demands. Charter won’t just upgrade their systems to higher phases without need.

Comcast will do the same, upgrade as needed. That what has occured the last 25 years.

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech Comcast will do the same, upgrade as needed.

Have they said that?

The entire network got DOCSIS 2.0, and 3.0, and 3.1. It wasn’t only partial upgrades.

videomatic3

Man-of-Leisure some areas took way longer than other areas, and im 100% positive its not congestion related.

telcodad

telcodad Yes, hopefully those latest tariffs don’t slow the D4.0 rollouts down.

According to this Fierce Network article, there may be some impact:

From:
Fiber broadband is probably worry free from tariffs
By Masha Abarinova, Fierce Network - April 17, 2025
https://www.fierce-network.com/broadband/fiber-broadband-probably-worry-free-tariffs

Cable vendors will feel the tariff burn
While the fiber broadband market will likely see minimal impact from tariffs, the same can’t be said for vendors in the cable and DOCSIS space.

CommScope and Teleste, which produce amplifiers and other cable components in Mexico and Finland, respectively, “will both be impacted by tariffs at any level,” Heynen said. But it’s possible the U.S. government may offer them some reprieve, whether it’s through a waiver or other means.

“Both vendors have already brought some manufacturing to the U.S., particularly to qualify for BEAD projects,” he told Fierce. “I think it’s safe to assume that both will use that as evidence that they are committed to the U.S. market” to convince the administration that their products made outside the country “should be exempt from the tariffs or at least [see] reduced tariffs.”

Similar to what fiber providers are doing, cable operators are aiming to stay on top of their inventory. Heynen thinks Charter and Comcast are trying to buy “as many amplifiers and passives as they can” to keep up with outside plant upgrades.

“Certainly, the vendors aren’t going to stop production on that equipment,” he said.

But it comes as no surprise that DOCSIS 4.0 deployments will likely be further delayed, as operators may “delay their purchasing a bit” as they mull over how tariffs will actually impact the pricing of cable components.

CHR Solutions CEO Arun Pasrija recently told Fierce 2025 could see a further shift towards U.S.-based manufacturing but it won’t be without some pain.

“While increased domestic production could eventually help alleviate cost pressures, it will likely take more than 12 months for supply chain adjustments—assuming tariffs remain in place—before the industry starts seeing real relief from net cost impacts,” Pasrija said. …

telcodad

Comcast is presently the sole cable operator deploying DOCSIS 4.0 with any semblance of scale:

DOCSIS 4.0 ramp-up is underway, CommScope CEO says
CommScope CEO Chuck Treadway said DOCSIS 4.0 projects among ‘major customers’ are underway even as others continue to finalize their upgrade plans. New ‘unified’ products for DOCSIS 4.0 will emerge in 2025, he said.
By Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading - May 1, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/cable-technology/docsis-4-0-ramp-up-is-underway-commscope-ceo-says

cypherstream

D4.0 could save Commscopes business. With Comcast committed to them as their primary D4.0 partner, they certainly have no shortage of work ahead. Commscope was not doing too hot previously, despite all the mid split gear rolling off the factory lines.

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