Vyyo’s been much in the news of late. As I listen to the company’s earnings webcast, its focus is very clearly on the cable market and the opportunities there to sell technology that extends bandwidth. I’m going to ignore the financials at the moment (mainly because I can’t process the news fast enough as I write this), and instead look at Vyyo’s technology.
Vyyo’s business is resting on the premise that cable can compete with telco fiber by making the most of existing HFC (Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial) networks. Vyyo’s approach is a Spectrum Overlay solution which uses spectrum up to the 3 GHz range. In contrast, cable currently uses spectrum ranging from 50 to 850 MHz. As I understand it, the Vyyo technology converts frequencies up to the higher spectrum ranges and then converts it back down for transport into the home. (Thanks, Jeff)
It’s easy to see why the Vyyo approach is appealing. Cable operators want to keep expanding services and extend into the lucrative commercial services market. With Spectrum Overlay it looks like MSOs can bulk up on bandwidth without going to the tremendous expense of laying fiber or even replacing existing network equipment. So far, Cox has signed on with Vyyo as well as StarHub in Singapore. Vyyo says its technology is “also being evaluated by two additional major MSOs.”
I wonder, can Spectrum Overlay really make HFC as good as fiber? Or does it even matter yet as long as it can make HFC good enough at a reasonable price?
Filed under: Bandwidth, Business, Cable, DOCSIS 3.0, Networks, Telecom
