Cable has been promising two-way services since the early 1970s, but only recently have significant numbers of Cable plants upgraded to full operational two-way.
Requirements are presented for Network Interface Units (NIU) in two-way HFC networks that are deploying or plan to deploy blended services. Numerous attempts to deploy NIUs, mostly for broadband Conditional Access, have traditionally not been very successful. An argument is put forth which encourages Cable to use NIUs to effectively deploy telephony and to use them to secure a beachhead against competition.
The What, Why, and How of deploying NIUs is discussed as well as several of the benefits, options, and problems to overcome.