Cable modem inventor talks up the 1GB access standard

It’s been more than a year since I brought the idea forward that we need to establish a 1 gigabit symmetric connection as the new gold standard for consumer broadband. Cable Modem inventor Rouzbeh Yassin seems to be in agreement with this idea, although he’s trying to push the envelope on coax cable to get the job done. If you are burying cable today, only fiber makes sense looking ahead to the future.

As Comcast begins rolling out DOCSIS 3.0-based “wideband” services that provide up to 50 Mbps, he is already anticipating Gigabit-per-second broadband connections that deliver more than 20 times that. Yassini, founder and CEO of YAS Broadband Ventures, which engages in consulting, research and investments, spoke recently with Multichannel News technology editor Todd Spangler (Multichannel News)

Why do we need a gigabit? It’s a Field of Dreams scenario. If the pipe exists, it will be filled, creating nearly unlimited opportunities to enrich our lives as well as creating a conduit for abundant economic growth.

The time has come to quit looking to traditional service providers like the cable /  telecom duopoly to build for the future. Federal government policy is still stuck in the 1960’s and is unlikely to produce any advances with a new “connected” administration beyond more regulations for the incumbent providers. Those of us who can see beyond what we have today need to work locally and create the new connected world ourselves. Call it the mother of all open source projects.