By Gino Caira, Gillett Lehman & Associates
The multitude of upcoming franchise renewals, the resulting need for many cable television system rebuilds, and the recent onslaught of evolving technologies, are provoking much discussion among CATV personnel regarding the amount of bandwidth that should be built into cable systems. Many industry leaders are touting 1 GHz as the bandwidth of choice, while others are concerned that even 1 GHz will not be enough bandwidth to support the incredible amount of services that the future Cable TV operator will want to provide.
Current development of spectrum-saving technologies such as video compression and signal multiplexing, however, may eliminate the need for such an enormous bandwidth. In fact, when utilized in conjunction with an appropriate architecture, 550MHz and 750MHz systems will provide ample capacity, both today and in the future, for the delivery of a wide range of conventional and interactive services.