Mediacom announces $1 billion capital investment
In recognition of the 20th anniversary of its first cable system purchase, Mediacom Communications announced that the company intends to invest $1 billion over the next three years to, among other projects, upgrade and expand its national broadband network.
Headlining the list of planned company initiatives is Project Gigabit, a wide-scale deployment of one gigabit per second broadband services to virtually all of the 3 million homes and businesses in the 1,500 communities in Mediacom’s 22-state footprint.
“From the time we acquired our first cable system in March 1996, Mediacom’s focus has always been to offer the smaller communities we serve the same communications and video services that are available in America’s largest cities,” said Mediacom founder and CEO Rocco B. Commisso. “Project Gigabit will allow us to go even further by giving our customers access to one of the fastest broadband networks in the world.”
Project Gigabit will build upon the residential gigabit product launches completed by Mediacom in 2015 and the widely available Gigabit+ Fiber Solutions offered by Mediacom Business today. The company expects to bring the first wave of Project Gigabit communities online as early as the fourth quarter of 2016. Unlike some other 1-gig providers whose services are limited to selected neighborhoods and/or are relying on federal, state or local taxpayer subsidies, Mediacom will invest its own money to make gigabit speeds available to essentially all of the residences and businesses along its network.
In addition to Project Gigabit, Mediacom’s $1 billion capital investment plan will fund a number of other important customer initiatives. Mediacom Business will expand its high-capacity network inside downtown areas and commercial districts in order to create more “lit buildings” in the company’s footprint and bring tens of thousands of new business customers on-net with immediate access to fiber-based communications services. Mediacom will extend its deep-fiber residential video, internet and phone network in order to pass at least an additional 50,000 homes. Community Wi-Fi access points will be deployed throughout high-traffic commercial and public areas across Mediacom’s national footprint.
“The $4.2 billion in private capital invested by Mediacom over the last 20 years has allowed us to, among other things, create an all-digital video network, launch a variety of advanced broadband services and deploy nearly 600,000 strand miles of fiber,” said Commisso.
“We decided to accelerate our capital spending over the next three years because our company wants to be the engine that drives economic growth and development for businesses and residents in the communities we serve.” For more information, go to www.mediacomcc.com.
