Last October, Wi-Fi mesh vendor BelAir Networks announced that its radios would support the Cable Labs DOCSIS 2.0 standard, and also said Comcast Interactive Capital was investing in the company.

Now, ABI Research is reporting that while North American cable TV providers have shown "no immediate interest in deploying mesh networks," several of them are investing in mesh technology firms. The ABI Research report, "Wireless Mesh Networking," examines the trends for metro-scale and campus-scale wireless mesh networking technology on a worldwide basis.

BelAir also has formed a technical advisory board comprised of cable companies, and aimed at obtaining more input from the cable industry that would assist BelAir's product development plans.

"BelAir's move serves further to underscore that cable MSOs could become a very significant component in mesh networking in North America," said Sam Lucero, senior analyst of wireless connectivity research at ABI, in a statement. "It's still early days for mesh, particularly when it comes to cable MSO involvement, but there are good reasons for MSOs to get involved. We have seen indications that MSO trials are underway, and real deployments may begin sometime in the next 12 to 18 months."