Last week Charter gave their customers a bit of good news by informing Broadband Reports that the company has no plans to impose metered billing, or for that matter even enforce their recently created "soft caps." The company dropped another bit of good news on customers this morning, by announcing a suite of new speed upgrades for users. According to a new Charter website and Charter employee Eric Ketzer, the company started bumping their "Express," "Plus" and "Max" speed tiers last week, and users need to power cycle their modem to see the faster speeds.

The company's Express tier used to be 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, and is now 8 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. Charter's Plus tier has gone from 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up to 16 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up. The company's Max tier has gone from 20 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up to 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. Prices may vary based on regional competition, but Charter's website lists the tiers' introductory new-contract price points at $30, $40, and $55 respectively.

Ketzer confirms to Broadband Reports that the freshly-upgraded 25/3 Max tier is being powered by DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades, so you will need to upgrade your modem to one that's DOCSIS 3.0 compliant. Ketzer also confirms to us that this faster speed should be available in all markets, which suggests that Charter has been a very busy company since they exited from bankruptcy late last year. As a related aside, Charter's latest earnings report shows a company on the mend.

Looking for something faster than 25 Mbps? Charter unveiled 60 Mbps service in St. Louis last year for $139.99 ($129.99 bundled), and Ketzer tells us the company does have plans to expand that service into additional markets. California should be next to see the high-end service, but the company isn't providing specific dates for the launch.

As always, you can find Charter user opinions and speed tests of the tiers in our Charter forum.