TIPTON, Mo. — Co-Mo Connect today announced pricing for Gigabit Internet and revealed it soon will be offering a free speed upgrade to many of its subscribers.
Internet at 1 gigabit per second will cost $99.95 a month when it begins in March or April. Co-Mo reports this will be the first Gigabit Internet service in rural America.
“This is the gold standard of Internet,” said Ken Johnson, Co-Mo Connect’s president and General Manager/CEO for Co-Mo Electric Cooperative. “There is nothing faster in the world for residents and businesses than what we’re offering right here in our little slice of rural Missouri.”
When Gigabit Internet becomes available, subscribers at the 20-megabit-per-second level and above will receive a free boost in speed, Co-Mo Connect announced today.
“There are no strings attached,” said Randy Klindt, Co-Mo Comm’s general manager. “We’re doing this because we can, because the network has the capacity and we received a good deal on bandwidth. We’re passing those speeds and savings onto our subscribers.”
The new residential service tiers will be as follows:
· 5 megabits per second for $39.95 a month;
· 35 mbps (currently 20 mbps) for $49.95 a month;
· 100 mbps (currently 50 mbps) for $59.95 a month;
· 1 gbps — equal to 1,000 mbps — (currently 100 mbps) for $99.95 a month.
Small-business tiers will also be seeing an upgrade.
“There’s now even more value in faster speeds,” Klindt said. “Those speeds are becoming more and more necessary as technology changes and advances, and we’re giving that to you for no additional cost.”
Klindt emphasized that this is not an introductory teaser rate.
“Nothing is going to decrease after six months or whatever the other companies do,” he said. “And subscribers don’t have to do anything to get the extra speed. If you’re on the 20, 50 or 100 megabit tier right now, we’re simply going to turn up your speed when this becomes available sometime this coming spring.”
Klindt said those on the 5 mbps tier who want to make the jump to 35 mbps for $10 more a month when the new tiers go into effect can do so by calling (800) 781-0157 from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Though Co-Mo will be offering gigabit speeds, most Internet devices are not currently ready for it. Because of that, the top end for most gigabit subscribers would be in the 700 to 900 mbps range.
“That is still seven to nine times faster than the next Co-Mo Connect tier and even faster than anything anyone has or is even capable of offering in our area,” Klindt said.
Co-Mo Connect is a fiber-to-the-home network being constructed throughout the Co-Mo Electric Cooperative service territory and operated by the cooperative’s communications subsidiary, Co-Mo Comm.
The four-phase plan, the first phase of which was approved in June 2012 by the cooperative’s Board of Directors, will make fiber-to-the-home Internet, television and telephone services available to all Co-Mo Electric members — about 25,000 households and businesses. Each phase is expected to take about a year to complete. Construction on Phase 1, which reaches about half of Co-Mo Electric’s members, began in May.
Co-Mo made the first connections to subscribers in Phase 1 in September, building upon a successful pilot project started in 2011 that successfully tested the fiber-to-the-home business plan.
Prices of Co-Mo Connect services and maps of the areas covered by each phase can be found at the Co-Mo Connect website, co-mo.net, or by calling (800) 781-0157. The website also has a feature that allows Co-Mo members to input their electric account number and find out instantly which phase they are in.
Bundling discounts are simple. If subscribers choose two of the three Co-Mo Connect services, they take $15 off their monthly bill; choose all three and they take $35 off.
For more information, visit co-mo.net.
