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story category Surewest Fiber Gets Faster, Cheaper
But only for customers who live in Sacramento...
02:41PM Tuesday Jun 23 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: prices · Fiber · competition · business · consumers · SureWest Internet
Sacramento-based SureWest Communications today announced that starting June 30, fiber to the home customers in Sacramento will be getting free speed upgrades with a price drop. According to the carrier, current 3Mbps ($31 bundled, $51 unbundled) downstream and 1Mbps upstream customers will be upgraded to a symmetrical 3Mbps. Existing symmetrical 10Mbps customers ($41 bundled, $66 unbundled) will be upgraded to symmetrical 15Mbps. Existing symmetrical 20Mbps customers ($70 bundled, $84 unbundled) will be upgraded to symmetrical 25Mbps. Internet speed upgrades in SureWest’s Kansas City market, which they purchased in 2007 and integrated in 2008, are planned for 2010.

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Forums » Surewest Fiber Gets Faster, Cheaper
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S_engineer

join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL

Good for them...

A company that appears to be planning for the future...what a concept!
--
BF69~~~Please stop suffocating gerbils!
cyberbeing

join:2005-02-18
Sacramento, CA

It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

In addition to the speed upgrades, there was also a 20-25% price drop. The prices Karl listed are the new prices.
me1212

join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

Do they have a cap?
fredwilson12

join:2005-04-20
Sacramento, CA


1 edit

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

Officially they do, but I think they keep that in the terms and conditions just for people who abuse the service. I've transferred 300, 400, or 500GB in a month and never heard a word from Surewest.

Also I got a letter last Friday regarding the free speed upgrades, and my connection has already been upgraded to 25Mbps.
me1212

join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO
·VOIPo

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

Cool. but wait.... The are a FTTH ISP with a cap but only for heavy users(are the business packages caped?) they offer symmetric speeds, and are LOWERING the price while upping the speeds to boot!??! Wow... And other ISPs can't to this because why? And they even upping your speeds for you! Wow......
PapaMidnight

join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

said by me1212 See Profile :

And other ISPs can't to this because why?
And give up profits to help consumers? Why the very thought...
me1212

join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

I know it is juts crazy.........
bigRoN
Premium
join:2004-05-02
Roseville, CA

And other ISPs can't to this because why?
One of the big reasons is the technology behind the SureWest network. Not all fiber networks operate in the same way. Most fiber networks out there, like Verizon, use a passive optical network. While Verizon uses gigabit speed on their network, it is very inefficient. SureWest, on the other hand, uses active Ethernet, providing a dedicated 100 Mbps bidirectional connection to each house in a switched network. While the overall speed is slower, it is much more efficient. Despite them not mentioning doing so, I believe they have changed their video signals from MPEG2 to MPEG4, adding to bandwidth efficiency. So other ISPs can't do this because they don't have the infrastructure behind their network to allow for such efficiency.
me1212

join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

Oh cool.

Boricua65

join:2002-01-26
Puerto Rico

said by fredwilson12 See Profile :

Officially they do, but I think they keep that in the terms and conditions just for people who abuse the service. I've transferred 300, 400, or 500GB in a month and never heard a word from Surewest.

Also I got a letter last Friday regarding the free speed upgrades, and my connection has already been upgraded to 25Mbps.
Can you tell me what area (or zip code) you are in Sac? I live near Exit 91 near I-80 and am wondering if they stated service in my area. A friend of mine used to live at 95818 near U and Alhambra and got service through them.
--
Yo te digo, el mundo esta jodido
fredwilson12

join:2005-04-20
Sacramento, CA

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

I am in 95819, East Sacramento. Not sure where Exit 91 is. In this immediate area, I believe they are offering service in most of 95819, some of 95816/95817/95818. You should check for availability on their website. Last time I called they said their primary focus for new rollouts was the Roseville area, where they still have some of their original customers on DSL. I have no idea if that's true though, just what I was told.

Boricua65

join:2002-01-26
Puerto Rico

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

You're right, Roseville is where they're deploying . Exit 91 is off I-80 going to Roseville/Reno NOT Business 80 (which takes you to Cal Expo).
--
Yo te digo, el mundo esta jodido

sapo
The Internet is Down
Premium
join:2002-09-16
Sacramento, CA
What sucks for me is that I even have those green boxes in ground with Surewest written on them yet I don't have service. I'm by Elk Grove.
--
DO DO

Supafly
Premium
join:2000-07-15
Elk Grove, CA

I'll be moving to Elk Grove in the next month or so, the house I'm buying is already hooked up the Surewest's Fiber network (It has the telling gray box near the cable/phone demarc point) AND the house is already pre-wired for ethernet in every room.

Suffice it to say, I cannot wait!
bigRoN
Premium
join:2004-05-02
Roseville, CA

I have had some legal torrents (Linux distributions) running on my network. For the month of June, up to this moment, I've uploaded 822.26GB and downloaded 74.96GB. I have been stoked about the speed increase and price decrease. If only other businesses would take this approach.
fredwilson12

join:2005-04-20
Sacramento, CA

Re: It is a Speed upgrade + Price drop

Yes I had Surewest with a roommate at one point, and he did torrents all the time.. probably most not legal. I was running pfSense so was able to look at MRTG. In one month my connection downloaded over 1TB and uploaded about 500GB. I never heard a peep from Surewest, but was still very surprised after seeing that and asked him to cool it down

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

said by me1212 See Profile :

Do they have a cap?
I believe its 30GB/mo.
--
When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee

kilometers

join:2007-01-24
Sacramento, CA

Nice pricing

With the speed increase and price drops I'm even more angry they skipped my condo when running fiber to the houses around us. ._.

AT&T and Comcast can't compete unless Surewest only offers crappy DSL to your home.

pokesph
It Is Almost Fast
Premium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
clubs:

OK..

..so the fiber is on the pole outside my house and they still won't run a drop to me.. very frustrating!

sure would be nice to get the 15/15 and drop Comcast.

ninjatutle
Premium

join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA

hmmm

I wonder what their financials looks like, sign of desperation maybe...The city next to them, Stockton is the foreclosure captial of the world.
djeremy

join:2004-07-12
San Francisco, CA

Re: hmmm

nope. they're actually having a pretty good year so far.

»ir.surw.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=1309···ghlight=

we know, you only like AT&T. competition, especially with faster service at a lower price is bad and something must be wrong.

govonator

@verizon.net

.

surprised surewest and any overbuilder is still is business. this announcement is clearly in response to comcast dropping analog channels.
NormanS
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC

Re: .

Surewest is an "overbuilder"? I thought they were an ILEC (formerly called, "Roseville Telephone Company") which was formed to provide telephone service in a rural region that the original AT&T bypassed.

They were one of the clients of an old moonlight employer I worked for: SCS Security (out of Roseville, California). My favorite gig was the driving patrol, checking the RTC facilities in the wee hours of the morning.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum
fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20

Re: .

Surewest is an overbuilder in Sacramento County... in the areas they serve in Placer County, (and some other areas in Sac County like Citrus Heights) they are an ILEC with the former Roseville Telco territory. What started the "Surewest" brand was when RTC purchased the former bankrupt WinFirst property.. which was one of the first fiber to the home projects of any effort launched back in the late 90's.

spewak
Kiss It, Kiss It Real Good
Premium
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA
·SureWest Internet
·FrontierNet Intern..

Re: .

said by fiberguy See Profile :

What started the "Surewest" brand was when RTC purchased the former bankrupt WinFirst property.. which was one of the first fiber to the home projects of any effort launched back in the late 90's.
And they made that purchase for a pittance.
--
The weekend is here, grab a can of beer!

spewak
Kiss It, Kiss It Real Good
Premium
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA
·SureWest Internet
·FrontierNet Intern..

Speed increase not withstanding

Can we all just agree that what Surewest is doing is a good thing? Please?
I went back down to 10/10 after my initial 1 year contract was up (had promo 20/20), and as soon as I learned they dropped the 20/20 price to $70 from a very high $92, I jumped all over it.
The bonus here is that just days later, I learned that they are increasing channels in HD, and bumping up tier to 25/25.
Wowzers!
--
The weekend is here, grab a can of beer!
Gravy_Dave

join:2006-02-21
Sacramento, CA

Re: Speed increase not withstanding

I still wish they came in so. sac. 95828. And take over Comcast and Frontier.
sonicmerlin

join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

Um...

Why do they have a 3 Mbps tier when they're FTTH?

Their prices seem really high for unbundled services. $25 price differences seems really harsh.

On the other hand, considering they're bumping up speeds and decreasing prices, it's hard to complain. I can understand if they're just trying to recoup the cost of building out all that fiber to the home.

Oh BTW, I curse you AT&T, I curse you.

moby866
Premium
join:2000-10-07
Above you
·surpasshosting
·RoadRunner Cable
·Vonage
·CableOne

KC Market

Is still HFC, not FTTP with Surewest (formerly Everest Cable)

They have been pulling a ton of fiber, starting last year. They are now doing another big push, I just don't know what they are doing this time. The fiber was done out from the plant down the major "artery" streets in the area. AT&T has also started putting more Uverse equipment out as well. TimeWarner has so far done nothing to counter either company in terms of price or service.

However the Surewest coverage is extremely limited in scope, with only a small footprint for service. I currently am not able to receive service from them, even though their lines go directly past my home, and I live about 2 miles from their plant.
--
If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure - J. Danforth Quayle
Ich habe kein Mitleid - Me
Forums » Surewest Fiber Gets Faster, Cheaper


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