Cablevision Launches Fastest Broadband in U.S.

With download speeds topping 100M bps, Cablevision said April 28 it was launching the nation's fastest downstream broadband connections throughout its New York metropolitan area market. The fiber-optic service, which delivers upstream speeds of up to 15M bps, will debut on May 11.

Cablevision plans to charge $99.95 per month for the service, which allows customers to download a full-length, high-definition movie in less than 10 minutes.

Further sweetening the deal, the monthly service plan also includes Cablevision's Optimum WiFi wireless Internet service, the speed of which the cable company said it was doubling to 3M bps. Cablevision recently announced that its customers had already accessed the Internet through the system more than 1 million times.

Cablevision's business model is in stark contrast to those of its cable rivals, which are offering slower speeds in a capped and tiered scheme. Time Warner Cable recently made headlines with a plan for a pricing system that would offer a basic tier of Internet access capped at 1GB per month for $15, charging an extra $2 per additional gigabyte. Higher-capacity plans ranged from $29 to $75 per month, each with overage fees.

Under the plan, Time Warner's highest possible Internet plan would cost $150 per month, more than double what its customers currently pay for unlimited coverage. Time Warner claims some sort of usage limit is necessary because heavy users are already slowing Internet connections for others and with Internet video traffic dramatically increasing the problem will only grow worse.

Time Warner's plan drew fierce opposition from both consumers and Congress.