RELATED:Mediacom: 20 Years of Growth | Rocco Commisso: From Calabria to a Cable Chairmanship | Standing Up for Small Cable’s Interests | Mediacom: What They’re Saying | Viewpoint: Timing Was Right for Rocco
Mediacom Communications said it will invest $1 billion over the next three years for a number of projects, including “Project Gigabit,” an upgrade and expansion initiative that will bring 1-Gig broadband to “virtually all” of the 3 million homes and businesses in the MSO’s footprint, which covers about 1,500 communities in 22 states.
Mediacom announced the capital investment to mark the company’s 20th anniversary – see this Q&A with Mediacom founder and CEO Rocco Commisso (subscription required) for more about the history of the company and what’s on the horizon for the New York-based MSO.
The company said Project Gigabit will build upon the residential gigabit product launches completed by Mediacom in 2015 and the Gigabit+ Fiber Solutions service currently offered by Mediacom Business today. Mediacom said it expects to bring the first wave of Project Gigabit communities online as early as the fourth quarter of 2016.
Mediacom said its $1 billion capital investment plan will fund other key initiatives, including the expansion of the Mediacom Business’s network inside downtown areas and commercial districts; the extension of Mediacom’s deep-fiber residential video, Internet and phone network in order to pass at least an additional 50,000 homes; and the deployment of community WiFi access points throughout high-traffic commercial and public areas across Mediacom’s national footprint.
“From the time we acquired our first cable system in March 1996, Mediacom’s focus has always been to offer the smaller communities we serve the same communications and video services that are available in America’s largest cities,” said Commisso, in a statement. “Project Gigabit will allow us to go even further by giving our customers access to one of the fastest broadband networks in the world.
“The $4.2 billion in private capital invested by Mediacom over the last 20 years has allowed us to, among other things, create an all-digital video network, launch a variety of advanced broadband services and deploy nearly 600,000 strand miles of fiber,” he added. Commisso. “We decided to accelerate our capital spending over the next 3 years because our Company wants to be the engine that drives economic growth and development for businesses and residents in the communities we serve.”
