Atlantic Broadband announced that it has rebranded all of its acquired MetroCast cable systems under its moniker.
Quincy, Massachusetts-based Atlantic Broadband also announced a series of broadband speed upgrades for acquired customers, as well as the deployment of 1-gig services starting in the summer.
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A subsidiary of Canada’s Cogeco Communications, Atlantic Broadband last year purchased the remaining MetroCast assets it didn’t already own in New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Atlantic Broadband now bills itself as the ninth largest cable operator in the U.S.
Starting today, the company also said, it’s delivering automatic broadband speed upgrades to legacy MetroCast residential and business customers. All residential customers now have access to speeds up to 200 Mbps. Business customers have access to speeds as high as 500 Mbps.
“Residential customers may operate as many as 10+ connected devices in a household daily and businesses rely on fast speeds and powerful internet to stay competitive,” said Rich Shea, president and CEO of Atlantic Broadband, in a statement. “To ensure customers have the best user experience, we are committed to investing in the latest technology and will begin rolling out Gigabit Internet service to our new markets starting this summer.”
Speaking to FierceCable shortly after the second MetroCast acquisition was announced in July, Atlantic Broadband President and Chief Revenue Officer David Isenberg noted the ease of integrating the remaining MetroCast assets. Not only did Cogeco’s 2015 purchase of MetroCast’s Connecticut systems provide a useful experience base, Isenberg said, but Atlantic and MetroCast’s back-office operations matched particularly well.
“We both use CSG International’s billing platform, for example, and we both use Cisco’s DOCSIS platform,” he said. “We have the same telephony vendor and the same VOD structure.”
The MetroCast deal, Isenberg explained, offers parent Cogeco a means of growth. One quarter of the Montreal-based operator’s footprint has access to fiber-to-the-home, while another 25% has access to fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) services. Amid the competitive landscape, Cogeco has been growing annual revenue at only around 3%.