Cable One said it will double its downstream speeds for new and existing residential Internet customers in more than 90 percent of its markets, starting in October. Specifically, the company said it will increase its "Streaming" 50 Mbps plan to 100 Mbps, its "Premier" plan from 75 Mbps to 150 Mbps, and its "Ultra" plan from 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps.
The company said it plans to spend roughly $67 million on its network this year -- "the first step in providing 1 gigabit service to residential customers," the company said. Cable One said it plans to announce residential 1 gigabit markets next month.
"As customers continue to stream, download, and connect across multiple devices, we know that speed is key in satisfying this growing demand," said Joe Felbab, the MSOs VP of marketing, in a release. "Doubling our speeds will create more customer value and provide a superior High Speed Internet experience for our customers."
And what exactly is the company doing to its network to support the faster speeds? "24-channel bonding is supporting our current speed upgrade and DOCSIS 3 and fiber-based technologies will support our 1 gig launch," said Cable One spokesperson Trish Niemann.
Cable One is the nation's 13th largest pay-TV provider. The company serves nearly 700,000 customers in 19 states with high speed Internet, cable television and telephone service.
In the second quarter, Cable One said it lost around 21,400 pay-TV customers; Cable One has been perhaps the most vocal cable operator in the country in its move away from video services in favor of providing high-speed Internet. However, in the second quarter, the company reported a modest gain of 505 residential broadband users during the period. Cable One said that data from both residential and business Internet services now accounts for 47.5 percent of its total revenue, up from 41.4 percent a year ago.
Cable One ended the second quarter with 385,136 residential video customers and 457,401 residential data customers.
Cable One's gain of just 505 broadband customers is an impressive uptick from the 3,170 Internet customers the company lost in the second quarter of 2014. However, as MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said, "the majors are growing broadband much faster. If broadband success turns out to be more tightly tethered to video than Cable One currently believes, their whole strategy will be called into question."
The carrier's move to increase its Internet speeds may well help it gain additional Internet subscribers.
For more:
- see this Cable One release
Related articles:
Cable One loses 21.4K pay-TV subs in Q2, but minimal broadband gains are a concern
Cable One's broadband-first strategy has 'some critical holes,' analyst says
Cable One officially spins off, enjoys strong first day as M&A target
Article updated August 21 to correct subscriber data.