LOS ANGELES — Interesting how form follows function. It wasn’t long ago that cable TV companies began offering up internet access via DOCSIS (the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification).
Now, with the proliferation of TV offerings available via the internet, the picture has completely turned over: The emphasis is on internet access. Who really needs cable TV? Let me give you a couple of examples of what I mean.
Atlantic Broadband, the nation’s ninth largest cable operator, recently announced the widespread availability of its Gigabit internet service known as GigaEdge (residential) and Pro GigaEdge (business) in its South Carolina region, which includes Aiken, as well areas it services in Graniteville, Jackson, New Ellenton, Wagener and Warrenville. The company’s fastest speeds will increase from 250 Mbps/20 Mbps to 1 Gigabit or 1,000 Mbps/50 Mbps, according to a company press release. (I’m assuming that means down/up speeds.)
According to a recent report from Cisco, there will be as many as 13 networked devices and internet connections per person by 2021 in the U.S. Clearly having a lot of data capacity in the home will be important. Hopefully some of that will be used for “radio” in whatever form it’s in.
WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone, based in Englewood, Colo., recently announced the availability of its 1 gigabit per second Internet service to more than 95% of the company’s customers and network footprint, according to lightreading.com. WOW! is one of the first internet providers to offer 1 Gig services to such a large portion of its customers. The company has introduced the service to nine markets, including: Cleveland, Ohio; Charleston; and Pinellas, Fla., and has completed the rollout of 1 Gig services to the entirety of Columbus, Ga., and large portions of Huntsville and Montgomery, Ala.
