Jeff Baumgartner

The demand on the broadband downstream will outstrip upload requirements by an 8:1 ratio by 2020, according to a new study commissioned by Cable Europe and NL Kabel.

The study, undertaken by the Technical University of Eindhoven and Dialogic, predicts that the average broadband user will demand downstream speeds of 165 Mbps, versus 20 Mbps in the upstream, by the end of the decade.

In 2013, the average sufficient provisioned speeds were about 15.3 Mbps down and about 1.6 Mbps upstream, the study noted. While back-up services will tax the upstream, video will need to carry the load in the downstream, the study noted.

Cable Europe said the industry’s current broadband technology roadmap puts MSOs in great position to support those demands. While state-of-the-art DOCSIS 3.0 technology can bond enough channels to support downstream bursts of more than 1 Gbps, the coming DOCSIS 3.1 platform is targeting capacities of up to 10 Gbps down by 2 Gbps upstream.

In the wake of recent deals with Winston-Salem and Durham, Raleigh is the latest North Carolina city to ratify an agreement that clears AT&T to deploy “U-verse with GigaPower,” the telecommunications company’s fiber-based, 1-Gbps-capable platform.

Like the earlier deals, the one with Raleigh comes way of AT&T’s discussions with the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN), an initiative comprised of six cities, four universities, and local business leaders, that’s aimed at stimulating deployment of next-gen broadband networks in the state.

AT&T said the plan, like those others in NC, “outlines potential fiber deployments…to parts of Raleigh,” though the telco has not yet defines which parts will get access to GigaPower.

Comcast tooted its on-demand horn by announcing that its set-top video-on-demand platform now provides access to the top 100 cable and broadcast TV shows as measured by Nielsen.

Of that total, 64 of those Nielsen-ranked shows are also offered on Comcast’s authenticated TV Go app and Web site, said Comcast, which notably has been testing out an On Demand Credit Ratings model that could open the door to the increased offering of all episodes of a current TV season via the multiple service operator’s VOD platform.

Comcast, citing an online survey by Harris Poll commissioned by the MSO, said over half (55%) of binge-watchers would rather watch current season episodes over past season.

Comcast said it will offer all 64 2014 FIFA World Cup matches in Spanish through Instant On Demand, an emerging new service from the multiple service operator that lets customers restart TV shows already in progress.

Comcast said it’s the only operator enabling this feature with Univision’s Spanish coverage of the soccer-fest, noting that it’s the first time it’s using the new technology to make such a broad selection of time-shifted content available in a language other than English.

Time Warner Cable Business Class said it will offer its TWC WiFi Hotspot solution at no additional charge to commercial Internet customers across the multiple service operator’s footprint.

The feature, which includes a free Wi-fi point installed and managed by the operator and a self-service management portal that lets business owners configure the service, will enable those customers to offer their customers Wi-fi access on devices such as smart phones, tablets and laptops.

The configuration portal allows business customers to provide free access to customers and visitors or set daily time allotments for free access, ranging from 15 minutes to 60 minutes. Those same access points are also accessible to credentialed TWC broadband subscribers.

Comcast Business said it has introduced a wireless gateway tailored for commercial environments that enables its customers to assign one private signal for its own day-to-day needs and a separate, public signal for customers or visitors.

The new device is entering view as Comcast Business develops a new “amenity” Wi-Fi offering for small business customers that could, for example, provide access to a separate, company-branded SSID with usage rules, security components and other terms of service set by the business owner. The device being rolled out now delivers a second "Xfinity WiFi" SSID.

Comcast said the new Business Wireless Gateway, developed by Cisco Systems, is now included in most of its business Internet plans.

As the proposed marriages of Comcast and Time Warner and AT&T and DirecTV move forward, this latest wave of consolidation is poised to have an effect on the telecommunications supplier market, creating a fresh batch of winners and losers.

That, of course, will extend to the realm of video gateways and set-top boxes, with at least one analyst believing that this new round of mergers and acquisitions will cause a shift in a market that is largely made up of Pace, Arris (thanks to its acquisition of Motorola Home in 2013), Cisco Systems, Technicolor and EchoStar.

“This mature, yet fragmented market, in which the top five vendors account for about 37% of the revenues, is ripe for further consolidation,” Sam Rosen, practice director at ABI Research, predicted, pointing out that Arris, with its focus on cable and IPTV, stayed ahead of Pace, which, in his estimation, is “over-weighted on satellite.”

Although the cord-cutting trend remains small, consumers who have wielded the video shears are apparently happy with their decision.

About 84% of cord-cutters are “at least somewhat happy with their decision,” while 37% said they’re so happy that they have no plans to ever return to a traditional pay-TV service, nScreenMedia found in a new study that surveyed 1,000 US adults with broadband access. Of that same group, 8% said they were “pretty unhappy” with their cord-cutting decision, and 9% said they hated the decision and wished they had service again.

The report -- View My Video: Consumer Digital Media Consumption -- also found that 17% of US broadband subscribers surveyed say they once took a pay-TV service but have since left their provider, while 10% say they have never subscribed to pay-TV (the so-called “cord-nevers”), and 74% said they currently take a pay-TV service.

As Netflix prepares to invade six more countries in Europe, Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner attempted to size up the streaming giant’s global opportunities in a report.

The “opportunity is more limited than many realize,” the analyst wrote, noting that infrastructure and affordability issues will limit Netflix in markets such as Latin America. But the forecast still seems to present some pretty big numbers.

“Assuming generously that Netflix deploys aggressively in 17 new countries over the next 2-3 years, we believe that by 2023 the number of broadband households in these markets with fixed connections capable of supporting SVOD will reach 243 [million],” Kirjner suggested. He also sees Netflix reaching about 65 million international subs, or roughly a 50% share of the research firm’s estimated international SVOD market, but only “if it deploys service very aggressively across all 17 incremental countries in our assumptions.”

That’s a sizable jump from where Netflix is today internationally, with 10.9 million subs. While 14% of that total comes from the UK and Ireland, and 25% from Canada, Netflix, to Kirjner’s earlier point, has only been able to scratch together about 1.5 million customers in Latin America (1% of total households), despite having launched there more than two and a half years ago.

Clarifying comments made at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit in New York that some misinterpreted as a firm commitment that Comcast would implement usage-based policies across the board in five years, Comcast executive VP and chief diversity officer David Cohen said that’s not the case.

“To be clear, we have no plans to announce a new data usage policy,” Cohen wrote, pointing out that Comcast suspended its previous 250-Gigabyte-per-month excessive use policy in 2012. “Since then, we’ve had no data caps for any of our customers anywhere in the country.”

Comcast, however, is testing usage-based policies that link soft monthly caps with overage fees in a handful of markets, including Atlanta. In those tests, customers are fitted with a monthly limit of 300 GB per month before they are faced with a $10 charge for each additional bucket of 50 GB. Comcast is also testing a “Flexible-Data Option” that’s tailored to light Internet users.