Cable Modems: Cable TV Meets the Internet The Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened the way for cable TV (CATV) companies to become full-fledged telecommunications companies, offering two-way voice and data communications services, in addition to television programming. After passage of the Act, the cable companies were eager to expand into the new fields of business that had been opened to them, especially the rapidly growing Internet Service Provider (ISP) business. The biggest hurdle facing the cable companies is that cable television systems were designed for one-way traffic, and must be upgraded into modern two-way networks in order to support advanced communications services. This is an expensive and technically complex undertaking. In addition, interfaces allowing subscribers PCs to access the Internet via the CATV cable had to be developed. These interface devices are called cable modems. Cable modems are designed to take advantage of the broadband capability provided by the cable TV infrastructure, enabling peak connection speeds many times faster than conventional dial-up connections. Cable Modems, Cable TV Meets the InternetCable modems have only recently been introduced for private commercial use. Cable modems and the cable data networks they are a integral part of hold the promise of providing a great deal of communications bandwidth for the private user. Greater bandwidth equals greater speed in the realm of the Internet. The Internet has only been around for private use for a relatively short period of time, nonetheless, it has grown quite rapidly. It appears that the Internet will continue to grow at a rapid pace. People will begin to use the Internet for more and more applications. Networking will eventually be a part of the most minute parts of our daily lives. New Internet applications will undoubtedly require greater data speeds, and cable data networks are a tremendous step forward in providing that ...
