Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) will begin trials of DOCSIS 3.1 in unspecified markets in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said in its second-quarter earnings report.
The MSO didn't specify markets or dates for these trials. And while CableLabs' DOCSIS 3.1 specification is capable of download speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, Comcast didn't define specific downstream and upstream speeds for its trials, as has been incorrectly indicated in numerous news reports.
The technology, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said, "will provide significant added capacity and lay the groundwork for future speed increases for our broadband customers."
Roberts called DOCSIS 3.1 "a quantum leap forward," adding, "it doesn't require us to go out and rebuild things, but to continually improve things. We've increased speeds 13 times and we envision doing that, we hope, into the future and remaining in a very, very strong position."
Comcast executives had earlier stated that they expect to see wide-scale deployment of DOCSIS 3.1 in 2016. Current DOCSIS 3.0 technology allows for a maximum download speed of 1.2 Gbps.
Earlier this month, Comcast announced $300-a-month pricing on its fiber-based, 2 Gbps symmetrical service, Gigabit Pro.
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