Mediacom Starts 1-Gig Rollout in Minnesota

Mediacom Communications said it has begun to rollout 1-Gig broadband using DOCSIS 3.1 in Minnesota, and has identified more than 80 cities and towns that will be part of the first wave.

The deployment in Minnesota follows Mediacom’s announcement late last year that it would upgrade its network to D3.1 by the end of 2016.  The MSO has launched D3.1-based services in several markets already, including Huntsville, Ala., parts of southern Tennessee, and in its service footprint in Iowa.

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Areas included in the first wave of the rollout in April include Blue Earth County, Brown County, Carlton County, Carver County, Faribault County, Hennepin County, Itasca County, Lake County, Le Sueur County, Lincoln County, McLeod County, Meeker County, Murray County, Nicollet County, Nobles County, Pine County, Pipestone County, Redwood County, Renville County, Rice County, Scott County, Sibley County, St. Louis County, Waseca County, Watonwan County, Wright County.

Mediacom said it plans to launch 1-Gig to181 communities in Minnesota by spring/early summer 2017. The operator’s network passes 225,885 homes in the state.

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“Since 1996, Mediacom has invested over $8 billion of private capital in its national network to ensure that hard-working families throughout the smaller markets we serve in the Gopher State and beyond receive the same advanced communications services as America’s largest cities,”  Bill Jensen, group VP for Mediacom’s Lakes Region, said in a statement. “As a result of these investments, we are extremely proud to be adding the cities and towns we serve across Minnesota to Mediacom’s rapidly expanding list of true gigabit communities.” 

In its initial D3.1 launch markets, Mediacom has been selling a 1-Gig (downstream) service, paired with upstream speeds up to 50 Mbps, at $139.99 per month as a standalone, with a “promotional package offers” that will also be announced at a later date.  

Mediacom’s DOCSIS 3.1-based 1-Gig offering comes with a monthly data limit of 6 terabytes before overage charges are applied ($10 for each additional bucket of 50 GB of usage).