One day after Comcast announced plans to deploy DOCSIS 3.1 internet services to Huntsville, Alabama, Mediacom said it would also bring DOCSIS 3.1 to the city, along with other parts of northern Alabama and southern Tennessee.
In December, Mediacom announced that it would have its entire network upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1 by the end of 2016, based on Cisco’s cBR-8 converged cable access platform (CCAP) and Casa’s C100G CCAP products. It is now in the process of swapping in DOCSIS 3.1-capable CPE within the markets of its 22-state footprint, branding the associated services as “Gigasphere.”
RELATED: Mediacom says it will be the first U.S. MSO to go all-DOCSIS 3.1
Last month, Mediacom revealed Gigasphere pricing—the MSO is charging $139.99 a month for 1 Gbps downstream service (50 Mbps upstream). There’s also a lower-priced 500 Mbps option. Mediacom also announced deployment of Gigasphere into the homes of around 1 million Iowa customers. And now, with Comcast, AT&T and Google Fiber also entrenched with 1-gig services in the northern Alabama region, the MSO is bringing Gigasphere to Huntsville, as well.
The MSO is capping usage at 6 terabytes before overage charges are incurred.
RELATED: Comcast to launch DOCSIS 3.1 services in Huntsville, Alabama
“In addition to enhancing speeds for residential and small business customers today, the Gigasphere platform we have deployed also lays the groundwork for offering multi-gig services in the future,” said Mediacom CTO JR Walden in a statement.
Mediacom is the first U.S. MSO to go all DOCSIS 3.1, but it’s not the first to deploy the technology. Comcast said it will be offering DOCSIS 3.1-powered gigabit services in 15 cities as of the first half of 2017.
Meanwhile, cable overbuilder RCN is challenging Comcast head-on with DOCSIS 3.1 deployments in markets including Chicago and Philadelphia.
“Since 1996, Mediacom has invested over $8 billion of private capital in its national network to ensure that hard-working families throughout the smaller markets we serve receive the same advanced communications services as America’s largest cities,” added Mediacom’s senior manager of area operations, Lee Beck. “As a result of these investments, we are extremely proud to add the cities and towns we serve in the Huntsville area to Mediacom’s rapidly expanding list of true gigabit communities.”