Bandwidth-hungry internet users can register a few new cities as potentially acceptable places to live. Following Google Fiber and AT&T, Cox Communications is one of the first big cable companies to announce plans for internet service at gigabit speeds, and the initial areas on its list are Phoenix, Las Vegas and Omaha. It's also extending its WiFi hotspot program to Phoenix and Las Vegas, and promises the high speed connections will both to neighborhoods and "select" new condo or apartment developments. If you have Cox but don't live in those areas you're not entirely out of luck, since it's also cranking up the speeds on its existing tiers this year. The Preferred tier will go from 25Mbps to 50Mbps, while its high speed internet service is going from 50Mbps to 100Mbps. The bad news? The gigabit rollout could take a while, since the company is only saying it will begin rolling out these speeds in all of its markets by the end of 2016.

[Image credit: Ed Shadid / Flickr]