CMTS: Growth Subject to CAS

he cable modem termination system (CMTS) equipment market in India in 2002—03
was still at a nascent stage. Total sales were pegged at around Rs 4 lakh, with
hardly 10 units being sold. A CMTS equipment primarily being a cable router,
this low number can be attributed to the fact that cable modem penetration level
itself was very low in the country.

Cable modems are controlled and coordinated by the CMTS equipment at the
headend. The CMTS forms not only the control center for all cable modems, but
also interfaces with the external Internet data, delivered through a leased or a
dial-up line. The cable router is a device that essentially translates and
directs data packets going between the cable modems and the Internet at large.
The router is installed between the channel service unit/digital service unit (CSU/DSU)
and the Ethernet switch. Some routers may be equipped with a built-in CSU/DSU.

Cable modems separate digital and analog traffic and enable a PC to send and
receive data using the coaxial cable sharing its downstream and upstream
frequencies with cable TV channels. A cable modem interacts with a CMTS
installed at the location of the cable operator. The CMTS, in turn, interfaces
with the CATV frequency spectrum. Cable modems use various technologies like the
TDMA-based DOCSIS standard or the more robust and modern SCDMA-based TERAYON
proprietary technology.

The
set-top box (STB) enables Internet-over-TV using any access technology i.e. PSTN,
dial-up, DSL or cable. For each access medium, the STB needs to have a suitable
kind of modem built into it, for instance, a dial-up modem in a dial-up STB or a
cable modem in a cable STB. The STB separates the digital traffic and feeds it
into the user’s television. The STB enables a user to use his TV as a display
device. The STB acts as a miniature PC (or an Internet appliance) and the TV
takes the place of the computer monitor. Thus, the user is always online and
connected to the Internet. In some solutions, upstream traffic is carried
through the telephone connection while only downstream traffic travels via
cable.

Indian Scenario

All cable modems and CMTS equipments being sold in India are compliant to
the DOCSIS 1.1 standard. While in Europe, since February 2003, DOCSIS 2.0 is
being taken as the complying standard, the same will be happening in India only
by the end of this year. The cable routers have been purchased only by a host of
cable service providers and MSOs in the country.

Hathway Cable, Datacom, Siti Cable Networks and RPG in Kolkata are some of
the main customers. Naturally, only Motorola and Cisco are selling CMTS
equipment, with Scientific Atlanta moving out because of lack of market size.
Even Cisco, which has sold CMTS equipment to Hathway, is not aggressively
marketing them. That has left the field wide open for Motorola’s broadband
division to sell most of the cable routers, thereby replicating its global
position and enjoying a lion’s share of 80 percent. Worldwide, Motorola enjoys
a 40-percent market share, selling around 30,000 units per year.

Why is the cable router market not picking up in India? A single cable router
supports up to 5,000 cable modems, and the total cable modem base itself in the
country is not more than 50,000. And the cable modem market in turn is not
picking up since cable networks in the country are not yet two-way. Therefore,
cable operators and MSOs in India have introduced the service mostly in urban
pockets. And finally the PC penetration itself had become nearly stagnant last
year.

A typical cable router costs around Rs 35,000 while a cable modem comes
between Rs 6,000—7,000. Among the cable service providers, Hathway and
SitiCable are using Cisco routers, while RPG is using the Motorola equipment.
Only if the telcos take up this service, CMTS volumes are expected to go up.
However, after the CAS implementation, sales are expected to go up because cable
operators will look at alternate services to scale up their revenues.

Rajneesh De