Time Warner Cable Counters Google Fiber Invasion With Free Speed Upgrades For Customers

Google Fiber (and to perhaps an even greater extent, municipal broadband) has existing players in the broadband market scrambling to step up their game. Earlier this year, Google announced that it would bring its 1 Gbps Google Fiber Internet service to the Charlotte, NC area.

Now, Time Warner Cable (TWC) is countering Google’s move into its service area with free speed boosts for customers. Customers currently signed up for Roadrunner Standard (15 Mbps), Extreme (30 Mbps), and Ultimate (50 Mbps) will receive free upgrades to 50 Mbps, 200 Mbps, and 300 Mbps respectively.

It’s interesting that TWC is able to add these significant speed upgrades with absolutely no additional charge, and makes us wonder how long the company has been stringing customers along until it was forced to offer more competitive services.

The upgraded speeds will initially be made available in the greater Charlotte, NC area that includes Albemarle, Badin, Boiling Springs, Charlotte, Cherryville, Clover (S.C.), Concord, Ellerbe, Gastonia, Harrisburg, Huntersville, Indian Trail, Kannapolis, Kings Mountain, Matthews, Monroe, Mooresville, Rockingham, Salisbury, Shelby, Statesville, Wadesboro, Waxhaw, and Weddington.

“With ‘TWC Maxx,’ we’re essentially reinventing the TWC experience,” said Darrel Hegar, Regional VP of Operations for TWC. “We will boost Internet speeds for customers up to six times faster, add to our robust TWC WiFi, dramatically improve the TV product and set a high bar in our industry for differentiated, exceptional customer service.”

Comcast, which is still pushing for regulatory approval for its acquisition of TWC, recently announced its own plans to offer a fiber Internet service that’s even faster than Google Fiber. Comcast’s symmetrical 2 Gbps Gigabit Pro service will launch in Atlanta, Georgia next month and will quickly spread across the U.S.