UPC Broadband and Cisco Drive Broadband Speeds to 120 Mbps and Beyond in Amsterdam

* First European Field Trial of EuroDocsis 3.0 and M-CMTS Technology

* Fiber Speeds over Coax demonstrated in IJburg (Amsterdam)

* Speeds of up to 200 Mbps now within reach

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands.- Cisco® and UPC Broadband have broken a new broadband over cable speed record of 120 megabits per second (Mbps) in consumer homes on UPC’s cable network in Amsterdam. Achieving these fibre-speeds over coax represents Europe’s first deployment of EuroDocsis 3.0 (ED 3.0) and M-CMTS technology in an existing cable network. This was announced at the IBC conference in Amsterdam, Europe’s largest trade show for broadcasting and broadband industries. Speeds of up to 200 Mbps and beyond are now within reach over cable networks.

Cisco and UPC have been the first to take the Eurodocsis 3.0 and M-CMTS technology into the field with a trial in the modern residential neighborhood of IJburg in Amsterdam. The trial over UPC’s existing hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network, with the most advanced modular cable modem termination system (M-CMTS) architecture with ED 3.0 channel bonding technology from Cisco, is already delivering speeds of up to and over 120 megabits per second (Mbps)*.

“Proving we can achieve speeds well in excess of 120 Mbps in the field is only the start of our ED 3.0 trials,” said Eric Lennon, Chief Technology Officer of UPC Broadband. “The field trial is the initial phase of a plan to deploy full EuroDocsis 3.0 technology which will enable speeds of up to 200 Mbps and above.”

The M-CMTS architecture is defined by CableLabs® and used with the DOCSIS® 3.0 standard becomes a powerful solution for the next generation of broadband services. The M-CMTS-compliant solution deployed in the field trial is based on the industry-leading Cisco uBR10000 Series CMTS.

Surya Panditi, Cisco vice president and general manager, optical technology and CMTS business unit, said: “The field trial with UPC demonstrates that channel bonding technology using M-CMTS will give operators the potential to utilise the incredible bandwidth capacity of their networks to the full in a highly cost-effective way. UPC’s ability to unleash the capacity of its cable networks will significantly enhance the entertainment and communications experience of its customers.”