CableLabs today announced that they've officially certified the first round of DOCSIS 3.0 compliant modems. DOCSIS 3.0 theoretically allows cable operators to provide downstream data rates of 160 Mbps and upstream data rates of 120 Mbps. Now that the gear's getting closer to being fully cooked, you've just got to wait on cable operators, many of whom are taking the wait and see approach to network upgrades.

A few weeks ago, Comcast launched their first pre-certification DOCSIS 3.0 market, offering $150, 50Mbps/5Mbps service in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. A few users in our forums have had their installs completed, and state that the company is using Scientific Atlanta (Cisco) DPC2505 modems for the service (see pdf product guide). The pre-cert gear is firmware upgradeable to the final spec.

As it stands, Comcast is taking the lead on DOCSIS 3.0, promising 50Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 service to their entire customer base by 2010. Most other cable operators are currently shuffling their feet with their hands in their pockets, waiting to see if demand is there before upgrading. But for $150 with overage fees, it's hard to think initial demand is will soar, which means real DOCSIS 3.0 speeds are still a few years out for most of you.