ox Communications has expanded the reach of its new 1-Gig residential service to Louisiana, selecting Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Acadiana as the first sites for its ongoing “G!GABLAST” initiative.
Cox said it announced the expansion at an event at the Americana Traditional Neighborhood Development in the city of Zachary, one of the first neighborhoods in the state to receive the new service.
In addition to the Americana subdivision there, Cox has also brought 1-Gig to the Lexi Falls subdivision in Broussard, and the Bella Ridge/Cottonwood Creed apartments in Harahan, which is located just outside of New Orleans. Cox said it plans to extend access to the service, initially offered using fiber-to-the-premises technology, to other properties in Louisiana “in the near future.”
Under its G!GABLAST initiative, Cox plans to offer residential gigabit speeds in all its markets by the end of 2016 using both FTTP and, soon, DOCSIS 3.1, an emerging platform for HFC networks that will support multi-gigabit speeds.
Cox has also introduced G1GABLAST service in parts of the Phoenix; Orange County, Calif.; Las Vegas; and Omaha.
"We are excited about our roadmap to offer gigabit speeds to all of our residential customers," said Jacqui Vines, senior vice president and region manager for Cox's Southeast Region, in a statement. "We are deploying new technology and infrastructure that will offer our customers the choice of gigabit speeds in all markets we serve."
"Americana has been planned to provide the highest level of technology for a smart mixed community in the State of Louisiana. We have partnered with Cox over the last two years and today is the latest advancement of our smart community technology plan for Americana," added Charles Landry, Americana's lead developer.
Cox also announced that customers in Louisiana who choose its Ultimate Internet package will see their speeds increase later this summer – from 150 Mbps to 200 Mbps.
For a more detailed view on how fiber is becoming an increasing part of the cable industry’s broadband diet, please see this week’s Multichannel News cover story (subscription required).
