Charter Chief Puts Faith in Full Duplex DOCSIS

While some on Wall Street may be worried about the damage that 5G could do to cable, Charter Communications chief Tom Rutledge is confident that Full Duplex DOCSIS will save the day for his industry.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference in New York on Thursday, Rutledge, chairman and CEO of Charter Communications Inc. , dismissed the idea that 5G fixed-wireless systems will wreak havoc with the cable industry's broadband and video businesses. Echoing comments made by Charter CFO Chris Winfrey at a similar financial conference last week, Rutledge argued that cable's new Full Duplex DOCSIS spec will more than counter anything that 5G can offer. (See 5G Speeds Can't Match DOCSIS 3.1, Charter CFO Says and 5G Fixin' to Become 'Largest Existential Threat' to Broadband Providers – Analysts.)

"I think 10 years from now, we'll have 10 Gig symmetrical [service] everywhere," he said. "We'll have a superior network everywhere."

Charter CEO Tom Rutledge.

In additon to delivering faster data speeds than 5G, Rutledge contended that cable's HFC networks will offer better economics than the telcos' planned fixed-wireless systems. Citing Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) as an example, he said the carrier's plan to target 5G service to 30 million homes outside its fiber footprint during the next few years will basically amount to a costly overbuild of incumbent cable systems.

Verizon's planned fixed-wireless network is "essentially a cable TV system or fiber network [running] to a radio on a pole," he said. "It really is a cable system with a more expensive drop."

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— Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading