Mediacom Communications Selects CommScope to Power Groundbreaking 10G Trial

Mediacom uses CommScope headend, IP network, outside plant, and customer premises equipment solutions to deliver end-to-end network for 10G smart homes of the future

HICKORY, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CommScope, a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, today announced that Mediacom Communications selected its portfolio of end-to-end connectivity solutions to power the ultrafast broadband network in its milestone 10G trial.

Mediacom is conducting the trial in partnership with CableLabs® and The Internet & Television Association (NCTA), to deliver ultrafast, low-latency, reliable, and secure connectivity to a 10G smart home. Executives from Mediacom, CommScope, NCTA, and CableLabs will discuss the 10G trial and its implications for the market during the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2020 Imagine Zone panel session on Oct 12^th 1:30pm ET.

10G trial tests cutting-edge smart home applications in real world conditions

The groundbreaking 10G trial will allow Mediacom, CableLabs, and NCTA to evaluate the capacity of Mediacom’s 10G platform in supporting future home automation, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), gaming, holographic display, and consumer applications in a real-world environment.

Mediacom will also use the 10G smart home as a working technology laboratory to test these demanding applications. Insights from the trial will inform Mediacom’s 10G strategy as it works towards expanding its existing fiber-rich network to include the delivery of symmetrical residential internet speeds ten times faster than its current 1 Gbps offerings, as well as improve its network’s latency, reliability, and security.

“CommScope was one of our key partners as we built the platform for our 10G trial,” said JR Walden, CTO at Mediacom. “With CommScope, we were able to secure all the headend, IP network, outside plant, and customer premises solutions we needed to deploy an end-to-end network able to support our 10G smart home of the future.”

Smart home of the future features dozens of IoT devices and services

Mediacom’s 10G end-to-end network delivers ultrafast ~2.4Gbps downstream connectivity as well as ~1.3Gbps upstream connectivity to more than 70 smart devices throughout the trial home. The service is passed over both wired Ethernet connections and wireless Wi-Fi6 connections within the homes. These devices included a smart refrigerator, cleaning robots, security cameras, 8K TV, VR and AR headsets, pet feeder, and more.

An ultrafast, low-latency, end-to-end network

CommScope supplied Mediacom with all the key solutions to achieve a fast, low-latency, distributed access architecture (DAA) network to deliver 10G connectivity to its smart home.

These solutions include:

• Video Unified Edge (VUE), a suite of modular headend software used for network virtualization and to transmit viewing guide, emergency information, and other data to customers.
• vManager, a suite of microservices for facilitating deployment, configuration, and management of DAA networks.
• E6000 Converged Edge Router (CER), provides the CCAP Core functionality by converging all of Mediacom’s services (video, high-speed data, and voice) prior to forwarding them over digital optics to the Remote PHY Devices (RPDs) in the fiber nodes, enabling Mediacom to use DOCSIS 3.1 in both the downstream and upstream to provide more bandwidth to its subscribers.
• OM6000 Opti Max Optical Nodes, in combination with E6000n Remote PHY Devices (RPDs), enable Mediacom to deploy a DAA to extend the digital portion of their headend out to the fiber optic node to improve end-of-line performance, increase spectral efficiency, and enable more bandwidth to Mediacom subscribers.
• Touchstone TG9452 Telephony Wireless Wi-Fi 6 Gateways, which connect all IP capable devices in the Mediacom 10G smart home and its 10G trial participants’ homes to Mediacom’s high-performance broadband network.

CommScope also developed desktop and mobile apps for Medicom’s 10G smart home which allows testing of the network connection speed at any time.

“Mediacom’s 10G trial demonstrates that cable companies can build 10G platforms capable of providing the fast, symmetrical internet speeds, ultra-low latency, and high reliability needed for the smart home of the future,” said David Grubb, senior vice president, Architecture & Strategy at CommScope. “We are excited to provide the end-to-end portfolio of solutions that are powering this groundbreaking 10G trial, and we look forward to helping Mediacom transform their customers’ smart home experiences as they expand the reach and capabilities of this 10G platform.”

Mediacom and CommScope to discuss 10G trial at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo

Brian Dietz (NCTA), Debbie Fitzgerald (CableLabs), David Grubb (CommScope), and JR Walden (Mediacom), will participate in a virtual panel “The 10G Platform: Powering the Smart Home of the Future” on Oct 12^th at 1:30pm ET at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo 2020 in the SCTE Imagine Zone.

Moderated by Ralph Brown, founder of Brown Wolf Consulting and former CTO at CableLabs, the panel will examine insights gained from the 10G trial to date and consider how 10G will transform consumer digital experiences and the cable industry over the long term.

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About Mediacom Communications

Mediacom Communications Corporation is the 5th largest cable operator in the United States and the leading gigabit broadband provider to smaller markets primarily in the Midwest and Southeast. Through its fiber-rich network, Mediacom provides high-speed data, video and phone services to over 1.4 million households and businesses across 22 states. The company delivers scalable broadband solutions to commercial and public-sector customers of all sizes through Mediacom Business, and sells advertising and production services under the OnMedia brand. More information about Mediacom is available at mediacomcable.com.

About CommScope

CommScope (NASDAQ: COMM) is pushing the boundaries of technology to create the world’s most advanced wired and wireless networks. Our global team of employees, innovators and technologists empower customers to anticipate what’s next and invent what’s possible. Discover more at www.commscope.com.

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This press release includes forward-looking statements that are based on information currently available to management, management’s beliefs, as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those currently expected. In providing forward-looking statements, the company does not intend, and is not undertaking any obligation or duty, to update these statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: CommScope

Contacts

News Media Contact:
Kalia Farrell, CommScope

+1-215-323-1059 or publicrelations@commscope.com

Financial Contact:
Kevin Powers, CommScope

+1-828-323-4970