Mediacom Begins Rolling Out New Cable Modem Technology

Mediacom Communications says West Des Moines, Iowa will be the first market where new "10G" technology will be deployed to allow multi-gigabit download and upload speeds over their hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network.

According to a news release, over 30% of the West Des Moines market has been upgraded to the new platform, also known as DOCSIS 4.0. The company will complete the buildout this summer and then begin working on additional 10G markets.

The 10G/DOCSIS 4.0 technology is capable of providing download speeds of up to 10 Gbps and upload speeds to match - at least in theory. In practice, Mediacom will not immediately offer multi-gig speeds but will enhance upload capabilities.

• Internet 100 becomes Internet 100 Symmetrical as upload speeds receive a 10x increase from 10 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100 Mbps
• Internet 300 upload speeds gain a 5x speed boost from 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps
• Internet 600 upload speeds get over a 3x speed boost from 30 Mbps to 100 Mbps
• Internet 1 Gig upload speeds double from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps
• New Internet 1 Gig Symmetrical tier introduced with speeds of 1000 Mbps down by 1000 Mbps up

A number of large cable companies are also beginning to deploy 10G to try to keep up with fibe overbuilds that continue to expand across the US.