Are Cable Companies Running Out of Bandwith?

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/20/surprise-cable-companies-edging-closer-to-bandwidth-exigency/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/20/surprise-cable-companies-edging-closer-to-bandwidth-exigency/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"According to yet another study, this time by ABI Research, "cable providers will soon be faced with a serious bandwidth crunch" as more and more individuals look to online gaming, video-on-demand, and IPTV for enjoying their precious moments of leisure. Compounding the problem is the growing demand for more HD channels in the lineup, and considering that the satellite operators are already raising the bar, cable carriers can only play dumb for so much longer. Stan Schatt, VP and research director for ABI Research, was quoted as saying that "digital switching is key" to releasing some of the strain on current infrastructures, and while we aren't ones to believe that the influx of online TV delivery will debilitate the internet (or cable providers), something seemingly has to give -- and soon."</i><br /><br />There are just so many bandwidth intensive applications out there that I imagine they've got to be at the tipping point if they are not there already. I already see a problem on my high-def channels from Comcast to the point that I am getting ready to cut them off. The channels are so blocky that they are unwatchable and I've been told that it is a lack of bandwidth. Of course I guess I am part of the problem when I run my Slingbox for hours at a time over my cable modem.

[whydidnt]

There are just so many bandwidth intensive applications out there that I imagine they've got to be at the tipping point if they are not there already. I already see a problem on my high-def channels from Comcast to the point that I am getting ready to cut them off. The channels are so blocky that they are unwatchable and I've been told that it is a lack of bandwidth. Of course I guess I am part of the problem when I run my Slingbox for hours at a time over my cable modem.

In today's environment running your Slingbox or downloading big files won't have any impact on the picture quality. All channels are assigned a specific bit of bandwidth and the internet has it's own different slice allocated to it. The problem is that Comcast is trying to cram more HD channels in the same amount of space. The only way to do that is to compress the signals, meaning your HD, isn't so HD anymore. This is why cable cos. want to go to a switched service that only delivers the signal of the channel you are watching at any given time, instead of having to push ALL channels to you all the time, like they currently do.