Cox Communications is gearing up to make some big changes to its service by the end of this year and continue developing its network over the next couple of years. Last month, the company announced it will be updating its broadband packages to deliver faster internet speed at no additional cost to consumers.
Now, the company is planning to launch a multi-gigabit service combining fiber broadband and hybrid fiber coax/DOCSIS to around half of its customers throughout the remaining months of 2023. Cox Communications has already begun testing this out in select markets.
Fiber offers more symmetrical speeds than coax, so combining them will help Cox Communications customers see less of a difference between upload and download speeds in addition to more reliable connections. Upload traffic is increasing and Cox Communications’ developments are aimed to keep up with the trends.
As reported by Telecompetitor, Ed Shrum of Cox Communications says the upcoming infrastructure will support multi-gigabit services utilizing the company’s distributed access architecture as well as mid-splits.
“We have been deploying DAA for over five years,” said Ed Shrum, Vice President of Wireline Engineering at Cox Communications. “Cox was an early adopter of this architecture and the associated operational benefits. We’ve deployed 2-Gig capable mid-splits to roughly half our footprint and are now transitioning remaining sub-split areas to high-split, which will be followed by an upgrade to ESD [extended spectrum DOCSIS] 4.0.”
While DOCSIS 4.0 isn’t expected to launch during this update, Cox Communications may roll it out sometime in 2025. The company is testing out high splits in several markets. High splits help expand the available spectrum in the hybrid fiber coax connection to increase connection speeds overall.
Cox Communications hopes to expand these trials to additional markets throughout the year and fully launch next year.