RCN Business may be an advocate of delivering fiber-based services to businesses, but its move to extend a 110 Mbps Internet tier across all six of its markets shows that the cable operator can effectively address small to medium business (SMBs) with existing hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network.
The service provider said that the 110 Mbps service is now available in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Lehigh Valley, Pa., New York City, and Chicago.
With this service, RCN Business said that SMBs that may not have the budget or need for a fiber connection can still get higher speeds to access larger content files and support more employees.
One market where this service has already been gaining momentum is New York City where the service provider has targeted large business hubs such as the Empire State Building, a site where it began offering services last September.
Bruce Abbott, general manager for RCN Business' NYC Market, told FierceTelecom in a previous interview that while they want to secure the lucrative contracts with large businesses, "we did not want to ignore the opportunity to serve the smaller CPA firm or whoever is still in the building so we opted to put both services in the building and make them available."
In addition to the 110 Mbps data service, which is available immediately, businesses in the six markets it serves can also get access to RCN Business' broader product suite that includes its Business Phone with Call Manager and Hosted Voice, along with flexible video packages.
RCN Business isn't the only alternative cable MSO that's finding new opportunities to service SMBs with 110 Mbps tiers over its existing HFC plant.
Fellow competitive MSO WOW! Business launched a similar product in the Midwest and Southeast markets it serves in January. Like RCN Business, WOW! Business is targeting SMBs that have outgrown their slower DSL connections from their local telco.
For more:
- see the release
On the Hot Seat: RCN Business' Roeder on Ethernet, dark fiber and wireless backhaul opportunities
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