| View this article at: http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/02/06/30.50mbps.cable.internet/ |
Wednesday, Feb 06, 2008 5:00pm
Quebec company tests 30, 50... |
A company in the Canadian province of Quebec will soon match Verizon in deploying some of the fastest consumer Internet access in North America, according to reports. Cable supplier Videotron is preparing to debut two "Ultimate Speed Internet" plans, capable of downloads at 30 and 50Mbps, respectively. This is an upgrade on the company's current top tier of 20Mbps, and takes advantage of pre-DOCSIS 3.0 technology. The plans will cost $65 and $80 CAD per month.Unlike Verizon's equivalent FiOS service however, the Videotron technology will have several drawbacks. First is a maximum upload speed of 1Mbps, due to a lack of upstream channel bonding. The initial deployment will also be restricted to just 112,000 homes in Laval, when the province's total population is over 7.7 million. Finally, caps of 30 and 50GB per month (including uploads) are being put in place, with an overage charge of $1.50 per GB. The sheer bandwidth of Ultimate Speed could make it possible to exceed each cap in a matter of days, if not hours. [via Broadband Reports] |