California ISP sonic.net rolls out 1Gbps double play for $69.95 #fiber #broadband #gigabit

sonic.netCalifornia ISP sonic.net has rolled out the first installs of it’s new gigabit service, which includes two phone lines, in Sebastopol, CA. Local newspaper The Press Democrat reports:

The fiber optic network allows the company to offer Internet connections up to 1 gigabit per second, said Dane Jasper, co-founder and president of the company.

“Speed will no longer be a factor,” Jasper said. “You’re completely connected.”

The service will be available to about 60 homes on Florence Avenue in about a month, and will become available to an additional 640 homes by the end of the year, Jasper said.

The fastest connection, which will be 1 gigabit per second, will cost $69.95 per month and include two phone lines and unlimited long distance calling. The company will also offer a 100 megabit per second connection for $39.95 monthly, which will include one phone line with unlimited long distance calling.

Nate Anderson recently covered the story in Ars Technica:

Jasper doesn’t think like a typical US Internet exec; in an interview last year, he made clear that his company tries to avoid artificial limits as a way to make more money. “The natural model when you have a simple duopoly capturing the majority of the market is segmentation: maximize ARPU [average revenue per user] by artificially limiting service in order to drive additional monthly spending. But fundamentally this is the wrong model for a service provider like us, and we have looked to Europe for inspiration… I believe that removing the artificial limits on speed, and including home phone with the product are both very exciting.”