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Suddenlink Announces Their First 1 Gbps Target Community

Back in August Suddenlink Communications joined the 1 Gbps fiber to the press release craze by proudly proclaiming they'd be bringing 1 Gbps service to 90% of the company's footprint by 2017. Like Cox, Suddenlink hopes to do this using the unfinished DOCSIS 3.1 standard, which isn't expected to be commercially available in volume until 2016. Suddenlink is calling the whole upgrade plan "Operation GigaSpeed," (pdf) which the ISP says will bump the company's 15 Mbps tier to 200 Mbps, and the company's 107 Mbps tier to 1 Gbps.

The first step on SuddenLink's 1 Gbps deployment schedule appears to be Bryan-College Station, Texas, which the company said will be upgraded to the faster speeds sometime during the middle of next year.

"Bryan-College Station is one of the largest communities we serve, and it’s a particular pleasure for us to announce that it will be the first in Texas to get Suddenlink’s 1 Gigabit service," Suddenlink Southwest Region Senior Vice President of Operations Dave Gilles said in a statement. "What’s more, we’ll be making this great new service available to all customers in Bryan-College Station, not just to a few chosen neighborhoods."

The company was not yet able to provide me with specific pricing for the upgrades. There's also no word on whether or not Suddenlink's current usage caps and overage fees will be coming along for the ride.
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moldypickle
Premium Member
join:2009-01-04
Haughton, LA

1 recommendation

moldypickle

Premium Member

So

Where is your source for this new info? Would love to see where they go over their deployment plans.
Uplinkpro
join:2008-02-11
Lake Charles, LA

Uplinkpro

Member

Data Caps

They most likely will still have the caps. Their 300Mbps tier only has a cap of 500GB, so I'm guessing the 1Gbps tier might go all the way to 1TB. Either that or it will be so expensive no one will want to bother paying for it and it'll be available in name only. I doubt they plan on getting rid of their caps though considering they defend to the death the (in)accuracy of their meters.

WHT
join:2010-03-26
Rosston, TX

WHT

Member

Re: Data Caps

said by Uplinkpro:

Either that or it will be so expensive no one will want to bother paying for it

That's what I'm thinking. Someone could still come in with a $30 per month 15 Mbps tier and a $40 per month 30 Mbps tier and still make a good killing.

XANAVirus
Premium Member
join:2012-03-03
Lavalette, WV

XANAVirus

Premium Member

1Gbps not likely to come to WV

Unfortunately, since WV has no in-state backbone provider (though they're all around us in OH, VA, etc.), this isn't likely to produce 1Gbps offerings in WV. I'd be the first to eat my words if it does, though.

I'll be glad to see 15Mbps (my highest offering available both money-wise and state-wise) bumped up to 200Mbps - though I won't mind seeing 50-100Mbps at least.

I'm still stuck on DOCSIS 2.0 with my eMTA Suddenlink Phone Service (not my choice) so any bumps of the 15Mbps tier would be great (the highest port speed on the eMTA is 100Mbps).

w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Springfield, OR

w0g

Member

this is not fiber

if they're using DOCSIS 3.1 they're using fucking coaxial and that ain't fiber. and it's shared, so you are sharing data amongst the whole node you're placed on, generally over a dozen or so channels that have been removed from TV use and redesignated to data.

there might be a few hundred subs sharing those channels, each one capable of sucking down 200Mbps or 1Gbps, and I bet it ain't symmetrical.

therefore this is not 1Gbps fiber craze. and for all we know, they won't be delivering full 1Gbps to each sub because it's shared at the node and over the channels. therefore what it truly is, is a way for them to set the cap at 1Gbps but in a way far less efficient than fiber to each home..
shrraga
join:2012-07-22

shrraga

Member

Re: this is not fiber

Still better than my grandparents 768 kb DSL connection via Fairpoint that "only" costs $40. yay not even having cellular as an option... (vtel will be launching wireless in the area in a year, and a 25 mb connection will only cost them $10 a month)
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin to w0g

Member

to w0g
said by w0g:

if they're using DOCSIS 3.1 they're using fucking coaxial and that ain't fiber.

It ain't fiber but it is 1Gbps

I don't care if it is gigabit over manure or over fiber fact it is 1Gbps.

diablo18926
R.I.P. Donald Lee Wise
join:2011-04-21
Friendly, WV

diablo18926 to w0g

Member

to w0g
Deleted.

fiosultimate
join:2014-06-09
San Antonio, TX

fiosultimate

Member

coming soon

Coming soon 10 gb

bcsuser77802
@74.194.37.x

bcsuser77802

Anon

Info on this

I live in the B/CS area and have had some interactions with the group that's been pushing for the upgrades for a while now.

The pricing is expected to remain the same. According to their PR person and the head of the Research Valley Partnership, the prices are supposed to be relative to Google Fiber's pricing in Austin, which would put the Gig service around $70. The existing 15mbit service is supposed to be bumped up to 300mbit at no further cost too...

CoStreet has been building out the fiber in the area quite a bit too. My office, which was too far for fiber just a year ago has the salesmen beating a path now, since we're in the BioCorridor area.

I'll believe it when I see it, but the promise of better is at least better than no changes. I'm lucky; I live close to the main hub and have very few people on my node, so I almost consistently get my full advertised speed.

The RVP has also said that this is only step one. Their eventual goal is FTTH deployment and I'll be first in line to sign up for that too.