Next week in Omaha, Neb. CenturyLink will fire up a fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) service that feature speeds of up 1 Gbps.
The service will eventually be available to 48,000 business and residential customers in CenturyLink’s Omaha footprint. CenturyLink is upgrading its existing fiber architecture in west Omaha in order to offer the FTTP service. When the project is completed, CenturyLink’s 1 Gbps service in Omaha will have a direct connection to the company’s recently upgraded 100 Gbps network.
“CenturyLink is pleased to offer its Omaha customers ultra-fast broadband speeds up to 1 Gbps to help keep pace with growing broadband demands,” said Karen Puckett , CenturyLink chief operating officer. “This demonstrates our commitment to deliver communications solutions that provide our customers with the technology they need to enhance their quality of life, now and into the future.”
The 1 Gbps offering is $79.95 a month when bundled with other CenturyLink services while the stand alone price is $149.95 a month. Business customers will have to call CenturyLink for pricing.
After next week’s launch, CenturyLink expects to have the service in front of all 48,000 customers by October. CenturyLink will evaluate the results of the 1 Gbps offering in Omaha before deciding whether to expand it to other markets.
CenturyLink competes with Cox Communications in Omaha. Cox’s fasted DOCSIS-3.0-based Ultimate tier features download speeds of up to 150 Mbps, and up to 20 Mpbs on the upstream. Cox prices its Ultimate tier at $82.99 for the first three months and then $99.99 a month thereafter.
Currently, CenturyLink’s fasted residential data tier clocks in at 40 Mbps.
A spokesman for Cox said that the nation’s third-largest cable operator has been offering a 10 Gbps service to Omaha businesses for some time.
“Cox provides a comprehensive Internet service portfolio that includes multiple speed options to meet a variety of customer needs,” Cox spokesman Todd Smith wrote in an e-mail to CED this morning. “We’ve upgraded our Ultimate residential package to 150 Mbps in several markets, including Omaha, and are expanding nationally this year. This upgrade is available to all Cox customers within our footprint and isn’t limited to a specific geographic area.
“It is important to note that our most popular Internet package remains the one that provides speeds of 25 Mbps, which meets the needs of the majority of customers. Cox was the first cable provider to serve businesses and for several years has provided multiple broadband data services that include fiber connections faster than 1 Gbps.”
Google Fiber is offering its 1 Gig service in Kansas City, where it competes against Time Warner Cable, and will add Provo, Utah into the mix later this year. Time Warner Cable executives have contended that subscribers won’t support the prices that come with Google Fiber’s 1 Gig service.
