Arris SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 modem

You know cable operators are getting serious about DOCSIS 3.1 when they open their checkbooks and buy millions of new cable modems capable of supporting the next-generation cable broadband standard.

Arris, one of the country’s biggest cable equipment manufacturers, reports it expects to ship at least two million DOCSIS 3.1 modems this year, a number analyst firm SNL Kagan says is conservative. They predict the number will be closer to three million.

Arris told its investors in the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call that the company is doing extremely well, with sales reaching $1.48 billion this quarter, and expected to be up another $1.69 billion by the summer.

Most of Arris’ modems are likely to end up at Comcast, where the cable operator plans to aggressively introduce DOCSIS 3.1 starting this year. Cox, Mediacom, and RCN are also expected to be big buyers of DOCSIS 3.1 technology this year. The one notable exception is Charter Communications, which remains preoccupied integrating Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks into its existing operations and still has a large number of legacy Time Warner Cable systems left to upgrade to all-digital service — a process that is likely to continue for the next few years. Charter is not expected to move aggressively towards DOCSIS 3.1 until 2018 or 2019. Cablevision is also sitting out DOCSIS 3.1. Altice plans to scrap Cablevision’s existing hybrid fiber-coax network and move to fiber-to-the-home technology for its customers.

DOCSIS 3.1 will allow operators to more easily introduce gigabit download speeds and offer additional bandwidth efficiency. Arris’ first DOCSIS 3.1 modem is the SB8200, available now for $199.99 on Amazon.