12/21/2017

Spectrum giving downloading speeds a boost

Spectrum Internet is moving out of the slow lane.

The service, part of Charter Communications’ Spectrum brand, has increased its starting download speed in Columbus to 100 megabits per second from 60 megabits per second — a 66 percent increase that will keep the company up to speed with its rivals.

The faster speed should be enough to accommodate up to eight devices simultaneously connecting to the internet.

“It’s where we are today,” said technology analyst Jeff Kagan. “Customers need this because they’re using more services and want to download those services in a second or two rather than minute or two.

“If they didn’t do (the speed increase), that would be the news. This is keeping up with competitors. It’s the next natural step.”

Officials at the telecommunications company said the upgrade will not change the price of their service.

“More than 99 percent of our customers now have access to Spectrum Internet with starting speeds of 100 Mbps,” said Mark Dunford, Spectrum’s regional vice president of operations, in a statement. “We’re delivering internet customers even more speed for streaming, surfing and social media, all with no change in the price of their Spectrum package.”

The faster speeds are available to new Spectrum Internet customers, and the company has also increased speeds for current Spectrum Internet residential customers and Spectrum Business Internet clients in Columbus.

Spectrum Internet Ultra customers have also received an automatic upgrade, which will triple their top download speed to 300 megabits per second from 100 megabits per second.

Charter Communications bought Time Warner Cable in May 2016 and rebranded it with Charter’s Spectrum name, packaging and pricing in January of this year.

Some Spectrum Internet customers will need a new modem to receive the faster speeds. Spectrum officials said that they will contact affected customers with details on exchanging their modems.

http://www.dispatch.com/business/20171220/spectrum-giving-downloading-speeds-boost