Spectrum Matters: Consider DOCSIS 3.1

Additional mobile spectrum is needed for the same reasons additional spectrum is helpful on fixed networks: more spectrum means greater capacity. Consider the difference between the cable TV DOCSIS 3.0 high speed access standard and the newer DOCSIS 3.1.

DOCSIS 3.0  uses single-carrier, quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM), 6 MHz- and 8 MHz-wide channels. Using 64 QAM or 256 QAM modulation, data rates of 30 Mbps to nearly 43 Mbps are possible.

Modulation matters as well. DOCSIS 3.1 uses more-efficient orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).

But DOCSIS 3.1 also requires use of a minimum of two OFDM channels, each occupying a spectrum of up to 192 MHz in the downstream.

Two 96 MHz-wide channels are assigned for the upstream.