PC Magazine has again compiled their list of the nation's fastest ISPs, and Verizon FiOS again takes top honors. The test used to face serious criticism from our users for its testing methodology, and now bases most of the results on data provided by Ookla (Speedtest.net). Following on the heels of FiOS was MidContinent Communications in second place followed by Charter, who saw significant gains in this years measurements. Notably absent are the telcos, courtesy of un-upgraded DSL markets. AT&T did not even make the top fifteen in the rankings:The entire rankings are worth a read, and also break things down by geographic area.

Midcontinent Communications (see our user reviews) has jumped into the DOCSIS 3.0 fray, launching a new swath of faster services under the MidcoNet Xstream Wideband Internet brand. According to a MidContinent news release, the new services offer speeds up to 100 Mbps downstream to more than 250,000 residential customers.

While major incumbent mergers get all the attention, there continues to be a significant wave of consolidation rolling through the nation's smaller, more-rural carriers. That consolidation continued this with with the news that MidContinent Communications will be buying U.S. Cable. According to the announcement, U.S. Cable systems pass approximately 86,000 homes and serve approximately 33,000 customers, most of which are in Minnesota and Wisconsin. "We’re excited about the opportunity to serve our new customers and become part of these communities," said Pat McAdaragh, Midcontinent’s president and CEO. "We believe that these systems are a nice fit for us. The US Cable fiber network is within 100 miles of our fiber network and we plan to connect the two networks, thereby expanding our reach eastward and getting us into the main network operator interconnect location in Minneapolis."

Midcontinent Communications (see our user reviews) is a small cable operator in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The carrier's been informing people via Twitter that they're starting to deploy DOCSIS 3.0 technology, something some much larger and wealthier operators haven't been particularly motivated to do. According to a Midcontinent press statement, they've now launched DOCSIS 3.0 in portions of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. That's right, West Fargo is getting DOCSIS 3.0 before Manhattan. Like most faster DOCSIS 3.0 tiers their top 50Mbps/5Mbps isn't cheap at $124.95 per month, though the company says that the new speedy tier has no caps.

Last summer, Time Warner Cable announced that the company was selling a group of small cable systems in 25 different states to Windjammer Communications. The cable systems, which serve about 80,000 basic cable subscribers and 120,000 revenue generating units (RGUs, or individual services like VoIP, broadband, TV) are too far from Time Warner Cable's main geographical areas of operation.