WideOpenWest (WOW!) took a big step toward the finish line on its rollout of DOCSIS 3.1 with launches in several more markets.
The latest WOW! markets to join the D3.1 list include Panama City and Pinellas, Fla.; Chicago and Naperville, Ill; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Charleston, S.C.; Augusta and West Point, Ga.; Valley, Ala.; and Detroit.
WOW! announced last November that it expected to wrap up its DOCSIS 3.1 deployments, which enable 1-Gbps broadband service (in the downstream direction) for both residential and business customers, to about 95% of its footprint by Q1 2018.
RELATED: WOW! to Complete 1-Gig Rollout in Q1 2018
WOW! initially launched the service in four markets in the fall of 2016 -- Auburn and Huntsville, Ala.; Evansville, Ind.; and Knoxville, Tenn., and has since followed with expansions into areas such as Grosse Point Shores, Mich.; and Marysville, Parma Heights, and North Ridgeville, Ohio.
WOW! expects to launch D3.1 in two more cities (likely sometime next month) and hit the 95% footprint deployment milestone, an official said.
The company has been rolling out 1-Gig service on HFC using DOCSIS 3.1 and the Arris E6000 converged cable access platform, but is also starting to use a new virtualized Distributed Access platform from Nokia as the operator looks to mine more capacity from its HFC network in certain scenarios.
RELATED: WOW! Rolls with Nokia's Distributed Access Platform
WOW! has been selling the 1-Gig residential service (paired with an upstream of 50 Mbps) for $79.99 per month as a stand-alone with a two-year contract, or $89.99 per month without a contract. WOW!’s 1-Gig service comes at lower prices when bundled with other WOW services. As an important differentiator, WOW’s gigabit offering is uncapped.
