Time Warner has confirmed that it is updating their subscribers' network connection site in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dubbed "TWC Maxx," the upgrade promises to bring increased speeds by up to six times.
The decision to upgrade comes after Google said it is bringing its own Fiber networking service to Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham; 18 cities in Georgia; and the Nashville metro area. As a way to keep their current residential customers, Time Warner has devised at least three tiers of Internet boosts, all at no added charge.
"Customers who subscribe to Standard, formerly up to 15 Mbps, will now receive up to 50 Mbps; customers who subscribe to Extreme, formerly up to 30 Mbps, will now receive up to 200 Mbps; and customers who subscribe to Ultimate, formerly up to 50 Mbps, will receive up to 300 Mbps, at no extra charge," said Time Warner.
Along with the increased Internet speeds, Time Warner also announced that it is enhancing its TV service. This includes an increased storage of up to 1TB for recorded programs, which is twice the previous amount.
Google intended to serve around 3 million people with Internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps. Such speed is said to be over 100 times faster than the current national average. In other words, Google plans to bring high-speed Internet service to the masses.
Time Warner is not the only company that has responded to the threat brought on by Google. In February, AT&T said it will enhance its Internet speeds in Kansas City, including the suburbs, in order to match what Google offers.
It was in January when Google announced that it is bringing its Fiber service to Charlotte. The search giant turned ISP is currently in the process of finalizing its network design in order to start with the construction of the needed infrastructure to launch the service.
According to Google, its Fiber service will come in three unique plans. The first is Gigabit plus TV, which includes gigabit Internet (both uploads and downloads) and over 150 channels at $130 a month. An installation fee of $300 is waived for the first year of subscription. The next is the cheaper Gigabit Internet plan, which costs $70 a month. The last one is Basic Internet, which comes free of charge, although customers are required to pay the construction fee of $300. Downloads and uploads are at 5Mbps and 1Mbps respectively.
Photo: Erik Cleves Kristensen | Flickr
