Mediacom announced that it will have its entire network upgraded to the DOCSIS 3.1 specification by the end of the year.
Following the completion of this upgrade, Mediacom will deploy gigabit-speed services, which it branded “Gigasphere,” across its 22-state footprint. The New York-based MSO ended the third quarter with 1.14 million high-speed internet users.
Mediacom said its network upgrade is based on Cisco’s cBR-8 converged cable access platform (CCAP) and Casa’s C100G CCAP products.
The cable company also said it’s bumping its base-level 50 Mbps broadband to 60 Mbps.
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“After the Gigasphere modems became available earlier this year, we accelerated the first phase of our previously announced 3-year, $1 billion capital investment plan so that Mediacom’s customers could begin taking advantage of superfast speeds as soon as possible,” said Mediacom founder and CEO Rocco Commisso. “This will ensure that the predominantly working-class neighborhoods we serve throughout Middle America are not technologically disadvantaged in today’s global marketplace.”
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.
RELATED: RCN continues to challenge Comcast on DOCSIS 3.1 with Philly rollout
Meanwhile, cable over-builder RCN is challenging Comcast head-on with DOCSIS 3.1 deployments in markets including Chicago and Philadelphia.
Charter Communications Chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge, meanwhile, just expressed the intent to utilize CableLabs' “Full Duplex” iteration of DOCSIS 3.1, which is theoretically capable of delivering symmetrical speeds of 10-gigs on HFC networks. That technology, however, is several years away.