Eideard

As long as your curbside hookup doesn’t look like this. Har!

Cablevision, the Bethpage, N.Y.-based cable and Internet service provider, has continued its tradition of being a cable industry innovator by introducing 100-megabits-per-second service in Long Island. The service, dubbed Optimum Online Ultra, utilizes DOCSIS 3.0 technology to deliver the ultra-broadband experience over cable’s wires and comes with ability to send data upstream at 15 Mbps. It starts at $99 a month, will be available starting May 11 and will be the fastest service from a cable provider anywhere in the U.S.

Cablevision is facing intense competition right in its own backyard from Verizon, which has ramped up the availability of its FiOS fiber broadband in the areas where it’s allowed to sell broadband. The cable company has responded by constantly upgrading its network and offering higher speeds and recently started offering free Wi-Fi to its customers. Cablevision also announced that it was doubling the downstream speed of its Optimum Wi-Fi wireless Internet service, to up to 3.0 Mbps…

Cablevision’s attitude to broadband is in sharp contrast to those of its peers in the cable business. The company has not announced any plans for metered broadband and has been consistently offering more speeds for lower prices. Time Warner Cable continues to come up with excuses while Comcast has implemented a 250 GB bandwidth cap. Comcast recently launched a 50 Mbps broadband offering in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and other cities around the country. Many carriers are looking at boosting speeds as a way to overcome the broadband slowdown that has come with a moribund economy.

That’s right. It reads like there is no cap on this new Cablevision package.

One of the commenters at Om’s post – from Sweden – has had 100Mbps up and down for 5 years. He pays $29 per month.