Rouzbeh Yassini

Rouzbeh Yassini (Persian: روزبه یاسینی) is an Iranian-American technology entrepreneur, engineer, inventor,^[5] investor, philanthropist,^[1][19][20] and author.^[10][11] Widely recognized as the “Father of the Cable Modem,”^[6][3][4] he is credited with inventing the cable modem, founding LANcity, and playing a pivotal role in establishing the cable modem industry standards (DOCSIS)^[5] through Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs), the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Yassini is the Executive Director of the University of New Hampshire Broadband Center of Excellence (UNHBCoE),^[2] and the founder and board member of the YAS Foundation.^[1] He is the author of The Accidental Network: How a Small Company Sparked a Global Broadband Transformation (WVU Press, 2025)^[11] and Planet Broadband (Cisco Press, 2003).^[10] As a frequent worldwide speaker and industry contributor, Yassini has consistently advocated for universal broadband access, a principle he describes as “Broadband Equality.”

Born in Tehran, Iran, Yassini went to Kharazami high school and attended University of Pahlavi for one year before immigrating to the United States in 1977. Settling in Morgantown, WV, he continued his education at WVU, pursuing a bachelor's degree in Science and Electrical Engineering. As a senior, he was fascinated by the burgeoning satellite communications industry, and toiled with classmates to build one of the first 3.7 – 4.2 GHz down converters.^[21]

Upon graduation in 1981, he was recruited by General Electric, the place that entered him into high-tech industry.^[22] In 1984 he had his first brush with the cable TV industry, working with GE's Comband division developing the company's first 5,000-gate custom designed set-top chip.^[21] After numerous promotions, as the "Engineering Manager for Cable TV systems and microwave" he left GE in 1986 to work for Proteon a data networking company manufacturing token ring networking products like routers and bridges.^[21]

It was at Proteon, that the idea of using the same cable for transmitting video and data came to him. Though, people told him video and data couldn't mix. From 1988 to 1990 he oversaw Applitek, a data networking company, as president and CEO where he was persuaded that mixing video and data is possible, although the vision remained on hold until 1990 when he bought Applitek's assets and formed LANcity where the cable modem was born and the DNA of broadband was built.^[21]

In 1990, Yassini founded LANcity, introducing the first high-speed communications modem designed to integrate with cable television networks, spawning a new consumer electronics technology category known as the cable modem used today by more than 12 million U.S. households.^[23] Yassini knew that he had to build a product that was based on industry standards, and not proprietary protocols. Hence, the priority of his small company with 13 employees was to develop an "Ethernet bridge" that interfaced between an Ethernet data network on one side, and the broadband cable TV network on the other. His vision and tremendous effort in Cable Technology and Data Networking eventually resulted in the invention of cable modems, creation of the broadband industry and the era of the high-speed cable modem.^[21]

The first generation of modems cost $15,000 for LANcity, and was not compatible with all cable configurations. Yassini took assistance from DEC to build the second generation modems. However, with the advent of personal computers, DEC faced financial problems, so Yassini brought in John Ulm from Hewlett Packard to redesign the modem, and Kurt Baty was hired to develop a new 200,000-gate silicon chip. With his new team and more than a decade of his vision in cable and data technology, in 1993 LANcity launched its second generation modems, at $5000 which was more affordable and more reliable and drew the attention of respected industry engineers. By 1995, LANcity deployed its third-generation "plug-and-play" modem for less than $500, obtained 80 percent of the admittedly small cable modem market share. Bringing the technology from $15,000 to $500 within five years and making it more affordable for personal use was a great achievement for LANcity that was acquired by Bay Networks in mid-1996.^[21]

In late 1996 Yassini was invited to join Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs) to establish the Cable Modem Industry Standards DOCSIS.^[21] He worked 18-hour days at the CableLabs office in Denver, CO, driving a team of volunteer staff from 400 suppliers and 20 cable operators, and key contributors to establish Data over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS), a pillar of today's worldwide, multibillion-dollar broadband industry.^[24] His tremendous effort within the first six years of working with CableLabs with responsibility over strategic vision, tactical execution, and budgeting resulted in a fully interoperable cable modem standard, a complex document that is used by many cable operators to transfer data over their cable infrastructures. Yassini also worked through the Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to establish DOCSIS as an international standard.^[25] His prominent contribution to DOCSIS and his pioneering work in cable broadband technology as founder and CEO of LANcity, earned him the title of "Father of Cable Modem".^[21]

In 1996, Yassini founded YAS Corporation, LLC in Boston, MA where he served as CEO and president from 1997 to 2017.^[21] As founder, president and CEO of "YAS" (which refers to a pleasant-smelling Iranian flower Of Jasmine), Yassini was instrumental in the creation of multiple start-up companies that have either been acquired or have successfully staged initial public stock offerings. He also led hundreds of strategic and tactical projects that improved the quality of life for citizens across the world.^[26] He served as senior executive consultant and member of the board of directors on a number of privately and publicly held companies, ranging from small innovative start-ups (Broadband Access Systems, TrueChat, Entropic Communications, and others) to leading broadband service providers such as Comcast, Cablevision Systems Corp., Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable, which collectively serve tens of millions of customers. He is currently a member of the Liberty Global Inc. (LGI) advisory technology board and UPC Technical Advisory Committee.^[21][22][26]

In the spring of 2008, Yassini opened the Yassini Broadband Knowledge Center (YKBC), in Boston, MA.^[27] The Broadband Academy, which is the research division of YAS, built and operated the first ever broadband building with 50 Broadband applications showcasing TRUE POWER OF Broadband, and offering grants and facilities to advance and promote broadband technologies, services, and applications. The center was transferred later to the University of New Hampshire in 2012, through the Broadband Center of Excellence (UNHBCoE).^[28]

To further the pursuit of his long-term vision to ensure global, ubiquitous broadband connectivity for all, in September 2013 Yassini announced the opening of the University Of New Hampshire Broadband Center Of Excellence (UNHBCoE)^[29][30] in Durham, N.H where he acts as its executive director and board member, oversees the center's efforts to investigate fresh ideas in broadband Internet technology and make the technology available to everyone, everywhere.^[26]

At UNHBCoE, Yassini with a team of researchers, professors, and broadband pioneers (the same team at YKBC) put all his effort to extend broadband to unserved and under-served communities, promotes UNH as a fully broadband-enabled university and home to the UNH Interoperability Laboratory, a world-recognized independent networking and data communications testing facility and to show how an entire city or state can use broadband services and improve the quality of life.^[31] His lifetime dream is that all the people in the world are connected to the broadband 24×7 no matter where they are located.

• 2019: Inducted to Light Reading Hall of Fame class of 2019 ^[32]
• 2013: Inducted to WVU Distinguished Alumni class of 2013.^[33]
• 2003: Honorary Ph.D. in Science from West Virginia University ^[34]
• 2000: Inducted as the youngest member of the WVU Lane Department of Academy^[34]

• The Accidental Network: How a Small Company Sparked a Global Broadband Transformation – WVU Press, 2025, ISBN 978‑1959000600; authored by Rouzbeh Yassini‑Fard, with Stewart Schley (author) and a foreword by John Chambers,[1]
• Planet Broadband – Cisco Press, 2004, ISBN 978‑1587200908; co-authored with Stewart Schley, Leslie Ellis, Roger Brown and a foreword by David Fellows [2]
• Internet Of People: The Future Of Broadband – Broadband Library, Winter 2014.[3]
• Television White Spaces: Assessing TVWS for Rural Broadband Access – UNHBCoE, November 2014.
• Broadband 2030: The Networked Future – Broadband Intelligent Series, UNHBCoE, December 2013.[4]
• Broadband 2020: Achieving Ubiquity – Broadband Intelligent Series, UNHBCoE, November 2013.
• Broadband Intelligent Series – a collection of white papers on digital services including voice, data, and video.
• Numerous industry articles, thought leadership pieces, and interviews on the future of broadband published in technology magazines, journals, and conference proceedings worldwide

• Voices of Ethernet: A Conversation with Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, Ph.D. on YouTube
• From Plug & Pray to Plug & Play
• Dr. Rouzbeh Yassini: Oral and Video History Collection Interview on YouTube
• Rouzbeh Yassini talks at the cable center - Denver on YouTube
• 'Father' Knows Best on YouTube