There now are 10 modem suppliers whose products have been certified for retail sale. Certification status has been earned previously by Toshiba, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and 3Com, in addition to General Instrument and Arris Interactive. CableLabs also has qualified Cisco Systems’ CMTS (headend equipment) for its compliance with the CableLabs specification.

"This large increase in the number of suppliers gaining certification status is terrific evidence that the cable industry’s retail-oriented process works well. It is producing a large number of certified companies from an international base of suppliers, all of whom are eager to serve the consumer and cable operators," said CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green. "The cable modem certification program is serving our industry and its customers well."

Said Rouzbeh Yassini, executive consultant to CableLabs and the head of the modem effort: "The cable modem initiative that started 3-1/2 years ago has created the fastest ever standard product deployment involving multiple silicon providers, multiple manufacturers and multiple industries, including consumer electronics, computer, cable and software. This industry achievement is considered a cornerstone of the Information Age revolution via broadband pipe," Yassini added.

The retail certified modems are identifiable by a "CableLabs® Certified™" seal. This seal will inform consumers and cable operators that modems that they purchase comply with the CableLabs’ cable modem specification. It also states that they will communicate (interoperate) with qualified cable system headends, which soon will be deployed in a substantial number of systems worldwide.

There currently are nearly 60 different deployments by cable operators on their broadband networks using cable modem products from the more than one dozen companies seeking CableLabs Certified status for the modems. A Certification Review Committee comprised of representatives of CableLabs member companies bestows certification status on suppliers.

Cable modems are used to provide high-speed Internet and data access. Cable modems are always connected and, unlike telephone industry modems, do not require re-dialing to a service provider. In addition, because the connection is via two-way cable, consumers do not tie up their telephone line for Internet surfing when using a cable modem to access the Internet. Certified cable modems can coexist in cable systems with existing, proprietary cable modems.

Manufacturers who receive CableLabs certification for their high-speed cable modems have successfully completed an extensive series of interoperability tests supported by CableLabs’ membership. Modems were tested against headend equipment supplied by four different manufacturers.

As part of the certification test process, suppliers were asked to work in CableLabs facilities in pre-market, pre-competitive testing and evaluation in order to prove their compliance with the industry-supported program and technology. As part of the certification process, suppliers self-test their products at their own facilities prior to submission to CableLabs.

CableLabs certification focuses on how well suppliers’ cable modem and headend equipment adhere to the defined interface specifications. The existing DOCSIS cable modem architecture is flexible enough to enable each broadband service provider to customize multiple service tiers. In addition to the unprecedented speed, cable modems also offer ease of installation, robust reliability, and data encryption of all information conveyed by the certified modems.