Windstream is now providing its VDSL2-based 100 Mbps service to residential and business customers in more than 1,000 markets following the completion of network upgrades on its last mile network across 15 states.
With these upgrades complete, Windstream can offer speed of 50 to 100 Mbps to 26 percent of its customers and expects to reach 30 percent by the end of 2016.
Initially offering lower speeds of 6 Mbps, the service provider noted that its ongoing upgrades have enabled it to also deliver 25 Mbps or higher to nearly half of its customer base.
This milestone is based on Windstream's Project Excel initiative.
Following the sale of its data center business in 2015, Windstream dedicated $250 million last November to enhance its last mile network by installing VDSL2 network equipment to support up to 100 Mbps in more of its rural markets.
Under the Project Excel program, Windstream upgraded its fiber-fed DSLAM infrastructure with VDSL2-capable equipment to deliver the higher speeds and create a more robust backhaul network.
After completing the rollout of 100 Mbps services in 250 initial markets in September, the service provider upgraded facilities in nearly 600 markets to support up to 100 Mbps for residential and business customers.
By being able to provide higher speeds, Windstream hopes to right the ship when it comes to subscribers. Although it lost 35,000 subscribers in 2015, the service provider says that by enhancing its last mile network it can reduce those losses and get back on a growth path.
Tony Thomas, CEO of Windstream, told investors in May that Windstream expects to cut its subscriber losses "roughly in half in 2016 and get to roughly flat in 2017."
For more:
- see the release
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