It is still needed. The MSO's just dont want to pay for it. Thats why when you go to an upgrade, 80% of the nodes have 20-40 spans of bad cable in them if it is an underground plant. Underground plants should be swept at leat once in every 2 yrs. Aerial plants could go a little longer in my opinion. Going 7 or 8 years in between sweeping your system should not be tolerated but is cheaper.
This is CABL.com posting #262823. Tiny Link: cabl.co/mbgxf