• Harmonic is expanding its broadband strategy beyond DOCSIS with PON equipment and AI-based network operations software
  • Its cOS platform is intended to span cable and fibre access networks as operators gradually change the infrastructure reaching customers

The fact

Harmonic has set out a broadband strategy built around more fibre access and greater use of AI in network operations as cable operators continue upgrading their networks. The company already supplies virtualised CMTS and distributed-access technology for DOCSIS networks and is expanding its PON portfolio for operators deploying fibre to homes and businesses.

Its cOS platform is designed to support both cable and fibre access, while Harmonic's SensAI software combines network, device and operational information to help identify faults and their likely causes. The company is positioning the software as vendor-agnostic rather than limiting it to Harmonic access equipment.

The shift comes as Harmonic concentrates on broadband following the sale of its video business, making its ability to grow beyond its established cable-access products increasingly important.

The assessment

Harmonic is trying to make its relationship with broadband operators less dependent on whether the final connection uses coax or fibre. An operator can continue running DOCSIS in part of its footprint while introducing PON elsewhere, and Harmonic wants its software and operating platform to remain useful across both.

That matters because a move from cable to fibre can also become a new equipment procurement. Harmonic's existing position in DOCSIS does not automatically carry into PON, where operators can choose other suppliers. Keeping cOS across both access types gives the company another way to remain involved while the physical network changes.

For BTW readers, Harmonic's challenge is to turn an established cable relationship into a broader broadband one. PON wins will show whether it can follow customers into fibre, while SensAI deployments will show whether its software remains useful across networks containing equipment from several vendors.

What to watch

Watch for named PON deployments with existing Harmonic cable customers and for operators using cOS across both DOCSIS and fibre access. SensAI deployments should also be judged on measured changes in fault identification, repair times or operating costs. Those results would show whether Harmonic is expanding beyond its traditional cable-access position.