Faster Cable Speeds Get Closer As DOCSIS 3.1 Moves Forward

CableLabs continues to push the DOCSIS 3.1 standard to completion, which means that significantly faster cable speeds are just over the horizon. According to a CableLabs announcement, six unnamed hardware vendors have completed the first round of interoperability tests for new DOCSIS 3.1 products, gear that will someday be capable of offering 10 Gbps downstream and 1 Gbps upstream.

CableLabs plans to host a follow up interoperability testing session during the week of January 19, 2015.

"The success of this first DOCSIS 3.1 interop validates that multi-Gigabit services will soon be a reality for cable broadband customers," states Tom Lookabaugh, chief research and development officer at CableLabs. "Operators around the world can now look forward to a new generation of capabilities added to their DOCSIS based networks."

Most of the 1 Gbps promises you're seeing made by companies like Cox or Comcast will rely on the DOCSIS 3.1 standard, which isn't expected to see significant commercial deployment until sometime in 2016. Back in September CableLabs said they were slightly ahead of schedule with development of the standard, which will take significantly less time to deploy than it did to design.