Altice USA has tripled Internet speeds for residential and business customers in its Optimum New York metro area footprint to 300 Megabits per second and 350 Mbps, respectively, more than a year earlier than expected.
The highest data speeds for Optimum residential and business customers had previously been 101 Mbps.
Altice USA purchased Optimum (the former Cablevision Systems) in June for $17.7 billion. As part of the New York State Public Service Commission’s approval of the deal, Altice agreed to tick up data speeds to 300 Mbps by the end of 2017.
Altice USA’s Suddenlink operation, which offers service in about a dozen states, offers 1 Gigabit-per-second high-speed Internet service.
Pricing for the highest tier is $99.95 per month for new customers and $64.95 per month for a new 200-Mbps residential tier. Optimum will continue to offer a 60 Mpbs base service for $44.95 monthly and a 100 Mbps tier for $54.95 per month. Existing customers can call Optimum for pricing for the new tiers.
Business Optimum 60-Mbps high-speed Internet service starts at $59.95 for new customers, with 100 Mbps available for $30 more. A 250 Mbps tier is priced at $149.95 and 350 Mbps is available for $189.95 for new customers.
“Altice USA is excited to launch significantly faster speeds across the Optimum footprint, made possible by investment in our superior network and infrastructure,” said Altice USA chairman and CEO Dexter Goei in a statement. “We are particularly pleased to be able to meet our public interest commitments more than one year ahead of schedule. Across the globe, Altice’s business model is centered on delivering the most advanced technology and capabilities. Today’s accelerated introduction of faster Optimum broadband speeds marks only the beginning of the new products and service enhancements that we plan to bring to our customers in the U.S.”
