PSound
04-28-09, 12:14 PM
Have to love competition! Broadband is getting faster and cheaper... and non bandwidth caps is becoming a competitive selling point!! :)
Confirming our earlier reports that Cablevision was cooking up a speedier new DOCSIS 3.0 offering, Cablevision tells us this morning that the company will be launching a new "Ultra" tier on May 11. The new tier features speeds of 101Mbps downstream and 15Mbps upstream for $99.95 a month. That's an unprecedented amount of speed at an unprecedented price, suggesting that Cablevision just took the gloves off in their fight against Verizon FiOS.
While we know that Verizon is testing 100Mbps FiOS connectivity in employee homes, no U.S. incumbent is currently offering 100Mbps, whether FTTH or cable. Several cable operators have started offering 50Mbps or 60Mbps connectivity, but pricing for these services usually start around $140 -- after bundled discount. Cablevision's pricing and the lack of a cap highlights how seriously they have to take the FiOS competitive threat. Did we mention we love competition?
Cablevision spokesman Jim Maiella confirmed for me that the $99.95 price is unbundled, and the new tier does not come with any kind of a usage cap or overage fees. Cablevision recently came out against metered billing, arguing that the practice would only serve to confuse customers. According to Cablevision, broadband is "a pretty powerful drug" that they'd like users to consume more of. This new 101Mbps/15Mbps tier would appear to be the broadband equivalent of a morphine drip.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cablevision-101Mbps-For-9995-102133
Confirming our earlier reports that Cablevision was cooking up a speedier new DOCSIS 3.0 offering, Cablevision tells us this morning that the company will be launching a new "Ultra" tier on May 11. The new tier features speeds of 101Mbps downstream and 15Mbps upstream for $99.95 a month. That's an unprecedented amount of speed at an unprecedented price, suggesting that Cablevision just took the gloves off in their fight against Verizon FiOS.
While we know that Verizon is testing 100Mbps FiOS connectivity in employee homes, no U.S. incumbent is currently offering 100Mbps, whether FTTH or cable. Several cable operators have started offering 50Mbps or 60Mbps connectivity, but pricing for these services usually start around $140 -- after bundled discount. Cablevision's pricing and the lack of a cap highlights how seriously they have to take the FiOS competitive threat. Did we mention we love competition?
Cablevision spokesman Jim Maiella confirmed for me that the $99.95 price is unbundled, and the new tier does not come with any kind of a usage cap or overage fees. Cablevision recently came out against metered billing, arguing that the practice would only serve to confuse customers. According to Cablevision, broadband is "a pretty powerful drug" that they'd like users to consume more of. This new 101Mbps/15Mbps tier would appear to be the broadband equivalent of a morphine drip.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cablevision-101Mbps-For-9995-102133