Summary Bullets:
• Air5 aims to be the first on the market to enable 5G over cable networks. A feat, if successful, could disrupt the market.
• While it’s currently the only vendor pursuing this, a similar initiative is led by CableLabs, so the idea might end up making sense after all.
Just as everyone has settled on the understated collective agreement that cable is hobbling along before being replaced with fiber, a new company believes that the cable infrastructure is here to stay. Air5 says current cable networks can be adapted to fulfill the demands of future 5G and 6G technologies.
Air5’s case is straightforward: There is an existing cable infrastructure, and it will be costly for operators to rip out all the cables and replace them with fiber. So why not come up with a solution that allows these cables to support 5G and even 6G?
The company claims that its patent-pending 5G-standards-based network architecture solution would allow a 5G-based network to coexist with cable’s hybrid fiber-coaxial infrastructure alongside current DOCSIS standards. This comes with additional promises of higher levels of security, increased speeds, and the use of AI. As the company puts it, its solution will provide “a seamless path to deploy new technology while supporting legacy solutions.”
Needless to say, this will be an uphill battle. Vendors and operators have all made peace (mostly) with the fact that fiber is the future as it can meet and exceed future capacity demands besides its other advantages. There are currently no post-DOCSIS 4.0 efforts, and CableLabs is working on a common provisioning and management platform for PON. Making things more challenging is that Air5 aims to get operators from both sides on board, probably argue for a new cable/5G standardization with the 3GPP, and coordinate specifications with CableLabs as well.
That being said, the possibility of turning cable nodes into small cell sites might be a promise too appealing for operators to simply ignore. It is also worth noting that CableLabs has similar efforts underway. It was reported recently that CableLabs, Rogers, and Charter Communications have been examining ways to merge DOCSIS and 5G.
Air5’s executive team and advisory board possess a wealth of experience. Jeff Brown, who heads the company, is an eight-time CEO who held executive positions with various companies that include Verizon (PacTel Cellular), AT&T Wireless (McCaw Cellular), RadioFrame Networks, Kineto Wireless, and Accuris Networks. Joining him are other experienced execs such as Sudhir Ispahani, an executive chairman of Air5 who used to be the CTO for Liberty Global, and Dr. Jan Uddenfeldt, one of Air5’s co-founders and former CTO of Ericsson.
All in all, it is still very early to tell if this idea will generate traction. Air5 has indicated that it possesses an internal proof of concept for the architecture and intends to conduct lab and field trials with potential operators, targeting 2025 for commercial deployment.
Undoubtedly, a determining factor will be whether it makes financial sense for operators to go through this route instead of going through the other established and future-proof solution. Till then, the concept will certainly attract some attention.