Time Warner Cable said more than 100,000 subs in Austin, Texas, equal to about 40% of customers in the area, will have access to a batch of broadband speed increases, capped off by a new 300 Mbps service that will replace its current 50-Meg offering, starting June 3.
TWC, which is in the process of being acquired by Comcast, revealed the speed plan for Austin in February, announcing that it will extend similar speed upgrades to six broadband tiers in the speed-crazy city. Portions of Austin are also home to AT&T’s 1-Gig-capable, fiber-fed “U-verse With GigaPower” service, and Google Fiber is preparing to connect homes to its 1-Gig platform by mid-year.
Among the upgrades, TWC’s Standard plan will jump from 15 Mbps down to 50 Mbps for no extra charge. Some customers will need a DOCSIS 3.0 modem to get the speed upgrades. Those who lease modems from the MSO and need a new one to get the faster speeds can get one for no additional charge, TWC said.
TWC said the rollout will continue over the “next few months” and be wrapped up by this fall, noting that the faster speeds are the result of a nearly $60 million investment in its Austin area network.
TWC has already begun to offer speeds of up to 300 Mbps in parts of New York City and Los Angeles as part of its “TWC Maxx” all-digital network and service upgrade initiative.
TWC said it has also deployed more than 2,000 WiFi hotspots in Austin, which are accessible by its residential and business broadband customers as well as customers who get broadband from other members of the CableWiFi roaming alliance. Other members include Comcast, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems and Cox Communications.
