Cox says it will be the first to bring ultra high-speed Internet service to entire valley

Stephen Sylvanie

The wait for ultra high-speed Internet in Las Vegas is nearly over.

During a news conference today, Cox Communications unveiled plans to offer residential broadband with Internet speeds of one gigabit in Las Vegas by 2016.

Exactly how fast is a gigabit? Mike Bolognini, marketing vice president for Cox Communications in Las Vegas, said it's so quick users will be able to download five episodes of a one-hour TV show in the time it would take to download one at the current fastest speed.

The Las Vegas Valley joins Omaha, Neb., and Phoenix as the first three locations to receive the new technology from Cox. While CenturyLink introduced gigabit internet to select customers in Las Vegas last year, Bolognini said Cox’s plan would be the first to make it available to anyone in the market.

“As we choose to select locations to launch, Las Vegas is always at the top of the list because of its demographics, because of the growth it has had and the relationship we have with community and customers here,” Bolognini said. “When we evaluated where we first wanted to go, Las Vegas was at top of list.”

The news conference took place in a tent outside a large gravel lot in Henderson. The location, near Wigwam Parkway and Gibson Road in Henderson, will become site of the new, 325-home Dream apartment community, which will be the first residences to have receive Cox's gigabit service.

Gerald Gardner, chief of staff for Gov. Brian Sandoval, attended the news conference along with local government leaders. Gardner said the gigabit service was a game changer for residents and the business community.

“It’s also a symbolic event that shows Las Vegas is really a technology hub,” Gardner said. "The fact that Cox sees Las Vegas as such an important market really says a lot about the growth they foresee for our city.”

In addition to gigabit speeds, Cox also introduced plans to install Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas throughout the valley for use by any cable subscriber, even if they're not a Cox customer, and it is bumping up its speeds for its two most common residential Internet services – all at no cost to the customer.

Cox High Speed Internet Preferred will increase from 25 megabits per second to 50 megabits per second this year. Cox High Speed Internet Premier will increase from 50 megabits per second to 100 megabits per second this year.