Mediacom has selected Waterloo, Iowa as its launch market for a new DOCSIS 3.0 (D3) powered 105 Mbps broadband service. “That will make it the fastest Internet service in North America,” Lee Grassley, Mediacom’s senior manager of government relations tells WCFCourier.com.
The ‘Ultra 105’ broadband tier will offer 10 Mbps in upload speed. Mediacom also offers a D3 powered 50 Mbps down/5 Mbps up broadband tier. The new tiers are scheduled to be available in late December. No word on pricing yet. Mediacom currently offers a 20 Mbps tier for $59.95/month.
The 105 Mbps tier nudges past Cablevision’s 101 Mbps as the most widely known ‘fastest’ broadband speed. I say widely known because I’m sure there’s probably a broadband carrier out there offering something faster, but lack the publicity.
These 100+ Mbps broadband tiers have been somewhat dismissed as more of a PR or marketing gimmick. Conventional wisdom suggests most consumers neither need nor can afford these packages. But as more and more carriers, particularly cable companies, push the 100 Mbps envelope, expectations for broadband speeds increase, particularly for their competitors.
100 mbps makes sense when including video, but as web and email traffic only, it's overkill. Plus I believe most consumers place a limit of no more than $50/month for Internet or $150/month for triple play. If you can offer 100 mbps profitably with those numbers – go for it!
its not the fastest broadband in North America – its not even the fastest in Iowa for that matter. When they have the capability of symmetrical speeds they will indeed be able to make the claim. Currently 100 mbps is more than most need but that won't be the case in just two years.
its not the fastest broadband in North America – its not even the fastest in Iowa for that matter. When they have the capability of symmetrical speeds they will indeed be able to make the claim. Currently 100 mbps is more than most need but that won't be the case in just two years.
Interesting Barney – are you saying that because the upstream speed is only 10 Mbps, it's not the "fastest?' Or are you saying some other companies in Iowa are offering (or should I say advertising – it's one thing to advertise it, quite another to actually offer it – which goes for Mediacom as well) 105+ Mbps? If so, please share who.
Nobody in Iowa is offering more than 100 Mbps (I think there's a fiber project offering 100 Mbps, but I may be confusing that with a nearby state). However you can get a residential gigabit connection from Paxio, albeit a few thousand miles away in California and with a price tag of $245 per month. Probably twice the price of Mediacom's 105 Mbps offering, but certainly a LOT faster.
Also, I'll take 50 Mbps down and 20 Mbp sup over 105/10 any day of the week. Heck, I'll take 20/20 over 105/10. Lopsided DOCSIS 3 speeds annoy me partially because that's what I'm forced to use if I want more than about 720 kbps up from Qwest here in the Denver metro (the company doesn't have ADSL2+ service, much less VDSL, here).