| Barefootsies |
04-27-2009 09:33 PM |
Cablevision Goes for U.S. Broadband Speed Record
Quote:
While it may not match the very best broadband deals in other countries, Cablevision will start offering the fastest home Internet service in the United States next month.
The new service will offer download speeds of 101 megabits per second and upload speeds of 15 Mbps for a cost of $99.95 per month. It will be available May 11 to all 5 million of the people in areas served by Cablevision, mainly in the New York City suburbs.
Cablevision is deploying a new technology called Docsis 3 which can utilize more of the capacity of a cable television system for data, offering both higher capacity and lower costs. In Japan, J:Com uses the same technology to offer 160 Mbps service for 6,000 yen ($60) per month.
In the United States, cable and phone companies have chosen to offer very high speed service at higher prices in attempt to earn greater profits from business and professional users. Of course, this means that adoption will be lower than would be expected if the prices were lower.
On a conference call with investors in February, Tom Rutledge, the chief operating officer of Cablevision, said the company doesn?t expect much financial impact from the Docsis 3 service this year:
I don?t think ultra-wideband will have a significant impact in the second half. I think it?s a long-term strategy. I think the primary user is small business and not residential in the short run.
Cablevision has said it spent $300 million for its upgrade to Docsis 3 and the deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots for use by its Internet customers around the New York region. That investment comes to about $97 for each of Cablevision?s 3.1 million customers, or $60 for each of the homes passed. Those relatively low numbers are consistent with other reports that say the overall cost to deploy Docsis 3 is quite low compared to the premium prices that cable companies are charging for 50-megabit and 100-megabit service.
Cablevision?s arch-rival, Verizon Communications, offers a top speed of 50 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads. In most places, it sells service at that speed for $140 per month, but it has been offering the service at $90 per month in New York state, its primary battleground with Cablevision, as well as in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Comcast, the nation?s largest cable company, is rolling out 50 Mbps service (with 10 Mbps for uploads) at $140 per month. Time Warner has said it will charge $100 for its 50 Mbps service, but it is rolling out higher speeds much more slowly that Comcast and Cablevision.
While 100 Mbps residential service is rare in the United States so far, it has been offered by a few local and regional Internet providers, including Greenlight, a service owned by the city of Wilson, N.C.
Cablevision has pushed the earlier Docsis 2 technology further than its cable rivals. Its basic service offers 15 Mbps downloads and 2 Mbps uploads for about $45 per month. For an extra $10 to $15 a month, its customers can get 30 Mbps downloads and 5 Mbps uploads.
Cablevision, Verizon and most other Internet providers, of course, offer rather significant discounts off their list prices for customers that buy voice, data and video services in a bundle.
Verizon has no plans to match Cablevision?s 101 Mbps speed right now, but company spokesman Eric Rabe said it could. And unlike cable systems, Verizon?s fiber-to-the home technology doesn?t require it to reduce the capacity of its video system in order to expand its Internet service. In an e-mail he said:
We can go to 400 mbps with the technology we are now deploying -? without giving up TV channel space. We can add higher speeds at the time of our choosing, but no announcement to make today.
A Cablevision spokesman said no executives from the company were available for an interview.
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http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/0...-speed-record/ |
