Help me out here, I know just enough to be dangerous. Here's how I'm looking at this. AT&T and Comcast both operate Fiber To The Node -- AT&T uses copper twisted pair for the last-mile, and Comcast uses coax. In order to do so, AT&T requires giant VDSL cabinets, in addition to Ye Olde legacy boxes. As far as I can tell, from scouting around my neighborhood, all of the Comcast equipment is up on the poles, relatively small boxes and cylindrical thingies. This distinction might apply to all telcos and cablecos; AT&T and Comcast just happen to be the local ones that I can observe.
The simple answer is: Duh, AT&T and Comcast operate on totally different technologies, so of course their equipment is going to be different. Right. I get that. But there is something, apparently, about Comcast's technology that allows it to build out and upgrade FTTN without needing to get on the sidewalk (or in front yard easements). It seems to be a "better" technology, in this sense. But what is at the root of this difference? Is there a way for a telco to transition to a similar technology that would relieve it of the need to place boxes?
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