Google recently rated Cable One High Speed Internet “YouTube HD Verified” – a certification given to those internet service providers (ISPs) who consistently offer a connection stable enough to stream HD (720p) video without interruption or buffering, the MSO said.
Netflix and Google (with its YouTube subsidiary) are two of the biggest sources of web-based video. They have been issuing reports ranking ISPs on the quality of the video experience the ISPs’ subscribers have streaming video, in large part as a public relations ploy to compel ISPs to take responsibility for the entire transmission process, even though few if any ISPs control the entire transmission path.
Cable One said it was YouTube HD Verified in 85 percent of the cities it serves. In the cities served by Cable One, competitor AT&T was verified in just one city and Century Link received no YouTube HD Verifications.
Brad Ottley, Cable One’s director of IP services, said that Cable One delivers YouTube video through a peering arrangement with Level 3.
In a written exchange, Ottley attributed Cable One’s results with Google/YouTube to “Low latency with Level 3 and Internet speeds of 50MB contribute to our YouTube HD Verified status.”
Transparent caching is a technique for smoothing out the delivery of web-based content (video and otherwise). Ottley said Cable One used transparent caching only in its system in Fargo.
In addition to being HD YouTube Verified, PC Magazine has ranked Cable One as one of the top 10 fastest ISPs in the U.S. for the past four years in a row, and The Wall Street Journal named Cable One fourth in the nation among ISPs providing the best value for speed offered.
Cable One was also recently ranked by Netflix as one of the top ISPs for delivering the best Netflix experience to customers. Netflix ratings reflect the average performance of all Netflix streams on each ISP’s network. Cable One’s Netflix download speeds were ranked faster than AT&T, CenturyLink, and Frontier.
Cable One offers speeds ranging from 50Mbps to 70Mbps, which it notes is ideal for streaming multiple movies or videos at the same time, offering more power for online games, and giving customers the ability to share photos in the blink of an eye.
“Our goal is to always offer our customers a superior product at a great value,” said Joe Felbab, Cable One vice president of marketing. “It’s gratifying to be recognized by Google, PC Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Netflix as the clear choice for the best streaming and fastest speeds in the markets that we serve.”