New York based cable MSO Cablevision will launch a DOCSIS 3.0 powered broadband tier of 101 Mbps to become the fastest broadband offering in North America (for now at least). The service is scheduled to launch in early May to Cablevision’s entire metro New York footprint and will be priced at $99/month. The service will offer a 15 Mbps in upload bandwidth.
The move is a direct shot across the bow at Verizon FiOS, Cablevision’s main telco competitor. Verizon’s closest comparable tier is a 50 Mbps/20 Mbps FTTH service for $140/month, but does offer promotions for as low as $90/month. Cablevision has already performed quite well against Verizon without this competitive weapon. They’ve met the FiOS challenge head on with industry leading penetration metrics for cable telephony, cable broadband, and cable triple play penetration. In response to Cablevision’s move, Verizon tells the New York Times, “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.” The broadband bravado wars continue.