Midcontinent Communications has deployed Cisco cBR-8 converged cable access platform (CCAP) across its network.
The Cisco cBR-8 will assist Midcontinent, which serves more than 300,000 customers with Internet and networking, home automation and cable TV services, to increase network capacity with DOCSIS 3.1 broadband. Simplifying operations and accelerating the growth of its cable broadband network will be the other advantages.
Midcontinent Communications, which offers ON Demand and TV Everywhere services to nearly 350 communities across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, has doubled speeds for customers, increasing download speeds to 200 Mbps in 2014.
While supporting its DOCSIS 3.0 network, Midcontinent will utilize the DOCSIS 3.1 capabilities of the new Cisco cBR-8 Evolved CCAP platform to grow its business by offering multi-Gigabit speed services, said Cisco in a statement.
Midcontinent will benefit from the ability to serve all DOCSIS broadband and video services across the cBR-8 chassis. Significant operational benefits and cost savings when Midcontinent introduces Gigabit Initiative services online will be the main aims.
By the end of 2017, the company aims to offer gigabit speeds to nearly 600,000 homes and 55,000 businesses along fiber network that covers more than 8,100 miles. Top speeds available from Midcontinent will be five times faster than its current best and 35 times faster than the average high-speed Internet access speed in America.
Jon Pederson, vice president of technology, Midcontinent Communications, said: “Cisco’s cBR-8 aligns with our strategy and vision to deliver Gigabit-speed Internet experiences that will change the quality of life and spur business innovation in the communities we serve.”
Brett Wingo, vice president and general manager, Service Provider Infrastructure Group, Cisco, said: “Advancing its cable access architecture with cBR-8’s advanced multi-Gigabit DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1 technologies and converged video capabilities is a key step in their well-planned network evolution strategy.”
