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Cox launches 1-gig Internet speeds in Hampton Roads [The Virginian-Pilot](Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 29--CHESAPEAKE -- Cox Communications Inc. announced Tuesday that it has started wiring the first homes in Hampton Roads for access to Internet speeds of a gigabit per second. Viridian Reserve, a residential development in the Hickory area off South Battlefield Boulevard, is under construction with Cox's latest fiber cable technology capable of downloading files at a gigabit per second. Davenport Management Co., which is developing the site, has planned 165 homes there. Everyone else in Hampton Roads will have to wait for gig service -- but not for long, Gary McCollum, senior vice president for Cox in Virginia, promised after a company presentation in front of a Viridian model home. Cox is working with other developers to add the technology as new homes are built, and the company expects to upgrade existing customers to the fastest speeds within three years. The gigabit service will allow download speeds almost seven times faster than Cox's highest speed, called Internet Ultimate, which can download files at 150 megabits per second. One gigabit is equal to 1,000 megabits. The gig speed can download 100 song files in three seconds, for example, while the Ultimate speed takes about 20 seconds for the same number of songs. The company's goal is to stay ahead of -- or at least keep up with -- customers who want to stream video, play games or move large files quickly, said Pat Esser, Cox's president, who came from the company's headquarters in Atlanta to take part in the announcement. The upgrade also anticipates a growing trend of employees working from home, where they need the same technology they get in their corporate offices, and the increasing number of devices that consumers connect at their homes. "What 1-gig is about is the possibilities," Esser said. "It's about giving the customer a network or a platform" for future uses. Verizon Communications Inc., Cox's biggest rival for television and Internet subscribers, offers download speeds up to 500 megabits per second on its Fios Internet service, which is available to about 250,000 homes in Hampton Roads. "We also have demonstrated the ability to deliver 1-gig service over our all-fiber network in 2010 and have gone as high as 10 gig on it, so it is a pretty remarkable and scalable network," wrote Harry Mitchell, a Verizon spokesman, in an email. "As the market approaches a real desire for 1 gig or greater speeds, we will act accordingly." Cox has not determined pricing for the gig service, McCollum said. Internet Ultimate service costs $99.99 per month. Cox announced earlier this year that it would begin offering gigabit service to residential customers, starting in three markets: Las Vegas, Phoenix and Omaha, Neb. Commercial customers, including the Sentara hospital system in Hampton Roads, already have access to those high speeds. Carolyn Shapiro, 757-446-2270, [email protected] ___ (c)2014 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) Visit The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) at pilotonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |