It wasn’t all that long ago that Bel Air Internet dedicated itself to satisfying its customers’ need for speed, whether residential or commercial, and the Southern Californian triple-play services provider seems intent on sticking with that promise. The company recently announced that it will become the first internet service provider (ISP) to deliver guaranteed symmetrical upload and download speeds to their residential customers, with speeds up to 100 Mbps up and 100 Mbps down.

If you’re currently on a service that offers the same speed on the uplink as it does on the downlink, this may not seem like a big deal. However, if you look at the fine print on your ISPs website, you’ll likely see that your upload speed is defined as “up to” a certain speed, meaning there are no guarantees of consistency.

With its new “Media-Grade Internet” plans—and thanks to recent network and infrastructure upgrades—Bel Air Internet does away with theoretical upload speeds, guaranteeing them as firmly as download speeds.

According to Bel Air Internet CTO Diego Salas, a shift in consumer behavior was the cause for this focus on upload speeds. He acknowledged that traditionally, residential customers largely cared about download speeds only. Lately, though, more consumers are leveraging video conferencing, engaging in online gaming, or simply uploading high quality videos and photos.

"With cable companies and even fiber, the more people who sign up in an area, the slower your connection is going to be. That's why people often complain of sluggish Internet at home during the peak evening hours when they, and all their neighbors, are streaming content and surfing the web," said Terry Koosed, CEO of Bel Air Internet. "Our model allows for consistent speeds regardless of the number of subscribers, which allows us the opportunity to guarantee these speeds to our customers, no matter the time of day or traffic on the network."

Bel Air Internet will roll out its new symmetrical speed options to all residential properties it services in Southern California and Las Vegas as of April 1.