Cox Communications is rolling out a speed upgrade in Arizona that will double the max downstream speed of its “Ultimate” Internet tier from 150 Mbps to 300 Mbps, while also raising the paired upstream from 20 Mbps to 30 Mbps.
The free upgrade (Ultimate costs $99.99 per month) will be implemented in September, and will be introduced in other Cox markets later this year. Cox is delivering it on its DOCSIS 3.0 network.
Cox has also been busy rolling out G1GABLAST, its 1 Gbps residential service that is initially being offered via FTTP, but will eventually be offered on the MSO’s HFC network via DOCSIS 3.1, an emerging platform that will support multi-gigabit speeds.
Cox first rolled out G1GABLAST first in Phoenix in 2014, and has since introduced it in Orange County, Calif.; Omaha, Neb.; Las Vegas; Hampton Roads, Va.; and New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La. Cox is also in the network-deployment phase for it in parts of Arkansas, Rhode Island and Oklahoma, with service to launch in those areas by the end of this year. Cox has plans underway to offer 1-Gig in all its markets by the end of 2016.
Cox is also rolling out a WiFi network that includes 1,200 hotspots in metro Phoenix and Tucson. Cox is part of a Cable WiFi roaming group (Comcast, Cablevision Systems, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Network are the other current members; Charter Communications will be joining them) that has deployed more than 400,000 hotspots that are accessible to their respective cable modem subs.
