Service Operators Look to Existing Home Wiring for Networking Set-Top Boxes

Service providers are moving toward networking their set-top boxes together, and they have been looking for existing-wire networking solutions (alternatives to Ethernet) for WAN access and in-home LAN nodes, reports In-Stat. Approximately 90% of all US homes have at least one coax cable outlet (not including those used solely for a roof antenna), while almost 99% have one or more telephone wall jack, and 37% have at least one Ethernet cable outlet, the high-tech market research firm says. As a result, the number of North American households with in-home provider network nodes over coax or phone wiring will climb dramatically from 2007-2009.

The cost of deployment is the primary driver behind the use of existing residential wiring. Although, providers realize that the condition of, age of, and the way coax and phone wiring has been installed in some residences may still necessitate installation of some wiring runs. This means that additional costs may still be incurred for deployment schemes that use alternative-wire (existing-wire) networking, but significantly lower than running Ethernet.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Global cumulative chipsets/nodes over coax and phone wiring will see growth over 100% in 2008.
• The ITU-T G.hn international effort is expected to make a positive impact in terms of standardizing an existing-wire solution for coax, phone wiring/twisted pair, and powerline.
• Drivers for networking set-top boxes together (entertainment video distribution) include service provider video distribution (telco TV) and the whole-home DVR.

The research, “Networking Over Coax and Phone Wiring for Service Provider Deployments Worldwide” (#IN0804084RC), covers the worldwide market for home networking over coax and phone wiring. It provides analysis of the pros and cons of home networking with coax and phone wiring. It discusses the various standards pertaining to these wiring solutions and profiles technology vendors in these spaces. Included is a global shipment forecast through 2012 for chipsets/nodes over coax and phone wiring, with breakouts for North American deployments and access applications, and a North American forecast for households with in-home provider network nodes over coax or phone wiring. Also included are results from a structured wiring consumer survey.