Motorola Hits 50M Modem Mark

SURFboard Line of High-Speed-Data, Digital-Voice Modems Reaches Milestone

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/12/2007 2:45:00 PM

Cable-equipment supplier Motorola said it shipped its 50 millionth unit of its SURFboard line of high-speed-data and digital-voice modems.

“For the past decade, Motorola has brought its proven experience and expertise to help further the development of the DOCSIS [Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification] standards,” Motorola corporate vice president Alan Lefkof said in a statement. "As the leading provider of modems, we are in a strategic position to offer the most advanced, standards-based cable- and digital-voice-modem features to our customers. We’re excited about the opportunities we’ll have around DOCSIS 3.0 in 2008.”

According to research firm Ovum, some 70 million modems are currently deployed and connected worldwide. Ovum projected that cable modems will have an annual growth rate of roughly 10% through 2011.

Motorola’s SURFboard family of modems include both Ethernet network connectivity and universal-serial-bus interfaces for plug-and-play installation, and they are compatible with computers running the Windows, Macintosh and UNIX operating systems. Troubleshooting is performed via front-panel status-indicator LEDs and an online diagnostics page.

In the coming months, the SURFboard cable modems (model SB5101) and wireless cable modem gateways (model SBG900) will feature a 50 millionth celebratory icon on products sold in leading North America electronic stores.

“While working with Motorola over the past six years, we have experienced incredible growth in our broadband business,” Cox Communications VP of technology Jay Rolls said in a congratulatory statement. “In today’s competitive marketplace, it is essential that Cox continue to offer the best and most reliable service. We appreciate Motorola’s innovative customer-premises equipment with its best-in-class performance in support of that goal.”