Gigabit Internet service is making its way across the nation and operators, including RCN, are reporting smooth sailing for the most part, thanks to DOCSIS 3.1.
By the end of 2016, RCN had rolled out gigabit in Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Philly, and recently added additional suburbs like Evanston, IL.
"From an execution standpoint, all has gone very well for an undertaking of this magnitude," said Chris Fenger, COO of RCN, "not only from the network standpoint, but from the point of installation, the product is performing as expected."
The biggest challenge has been consumer electronics. Older laptops, tablets, etc. are not capable of 1 Gbps even if it is being delivered as promised to the modem.
"All of our technicians carry a 1 Gigabit capable laptop and 1 Gigabit test equipment. If the customer says, 'I am only receiving 700 Mbps,' we can plug it into our laptop and show them that they need to get newer equipment," Fenger said.
This test is done at the time of install, and will become part of the ongoing customer education effort about similar issues, like WiFi speed, which also is affected by a number of factors, like number of devices and thickness of walls.
"We will make sure everything is working at the back of the modem, but … there are a lot of variables that go into the WiFi experience," Fenger said.
The market rollout has been based on the competitive environment and bandwidth consumption among other things, and Fenger made a point of noting that when RCN launches in a market, it covers the whole market.
"We are available across our whole footprint in Chicago (for example). This is consistent with how we want to roll out - to all customers and not just in pockets here and there so you can get headlines," Fenger said.
In February, RCN was purchased by private equity firm TPG, which also acquired Grande Communications. Fenger said that across both operators, he expects gigabit service to be rolled out across the footprint by late this year or early next year.
RCN is currently offering its service for $69.99 for the first year, plus a modem rental fee. The company is marketing only to new customers, not the incumbent base, although existing customers can request it. The reason is that the 4-in-1 gateways are not available yet in sufficient numbers. The current RCN offering uses standalone modems and routers in combination.
"We are using this product (gigabit) as an acquisition tool at this point," Fenger said. "We don't want to stimulate demand we can't meet. We want customers to have an outstanding experience. Until we are comfortable that these 4-in-1 units will not only work, but be available in quantity, we don't want to create demand we can't meet."
