Cox Communications reached out to us this morning to note that the carrier will be launching their first 50Mbps/5Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 service tier in none other than Lafayette, Louisiana. The new "Ultimate" Internet tier costs $139.99, though the company tells us there's a discount offer being pushed in this launch market of $90 per month. According to Cox, there's a one-time installation fee of $99.95, you get three IP addresses, there's no cap, and users get the Cisco DPC3000 as the modem of choice.

Ultimately, users may still find their speedy 50Mbps connection throttled under Cox's new network management plan, which is so far only being tested in Kansas and Arkansas. The tier also won't be of much use if you're a P2P pirate, since Cox is the only major carrier booting copyright abusers. On the other hand, Cox says this new tier does come with Powerboost, meaning that 50Mbps could occasionally be considerably faster than that.

Additional launch market information is a little scarce at the moment. "We plan to offer DOCSIS 3.0 technology to several markets by the end of this year, and it's expected to be available to more than two-thirds of our footprint by the end of 2010," says one Cox source. "No other market launches have been announced at this time, but testing is underway and we’ll have more news soon," he says.

The selection of Lafayette as a launch market is not coincidental. We've been reporting on Lafayette's struggles to build a fiber to the home network in the city for years. After fighting some incredibly sleazy efforts by AT&T (then BellSouth) and Cox to kill the build, locals voted to approve the project -- which only recently got off the ground. In February, the city unveiled their pricing and speeds, which blow away both local and national alternatives.

Triple play bundles range from $84.85 to $200, with downstream broadband services ranging from 10Mbps to 50Mbps (all symmetrical). LUS offers standalone symmetrical 10Mbps for $28.95, 30Mbps for $44.95, and 50Mbps for $57.95. There's no caps, no contracts, no installation fee and users get 100Mbps connectivity to other users on the network. Those prices/perks not only top regional incumbents, they beat carrier prices everywhere else, too.

I asked Cox specifically about how big of a role Lafayette played in the deployment. "We are rolling out DOCSIS 3.0 based on a number of factors including network readiness and competition," company spokesman David Deliman. "In addition to LUS, AT&T is prominent in the Greater Louisiana market," he notes. "We are nimble competitors and are ready to face both in the market."