CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Mediacom Communications announced this week the availability of Ultra 50 broadband service to homes and businesses in Clearlake, Lakeport and communities throughout Lake County.

Mediacom Ultra 50 is a high-speed Internet service that delivers download speeds of up to 50 mega bits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps.

Deployment of Ultra 50 is part of Mediacom’s mission to provide the fastest Internet service to homes and businesses in communities of all sizes throughout its service areas.

Ultra 50 utilizes the cable industry’s breakthrough channel bonding technology known as DOCSIS 3.0 that is ideal for bandwidth-intensive applications such as movie downloads or online gaming.

A high-definition (HD) movie (6 gigabytes) can be downloaded in just 16 minutes using Mediacom Ultra 50, as compared to the 4.4 hours it would take to download the same movie using a common 3 Mbps DSL service from a traditional phone company, according to Shawn Swatosh, Mediacom’s senior operations manager for California.

“From the largest cities to the smallest towns, Americans are consuming more bandwidth and demanding a faster Internet,” Swatosh said. “With recent launches, Mediacom Ultra 50 is widely available to ensure that customers throughout Lake County can connect to the fastest Internet speeds.”

Swatosh explained that a variety of consumer applications have rapidly developed and changed how today’s consumers use the Internet. “We watch news and movies online; our use of social networking sites has skyrocketed; we check weather and sports scores online; find recipes; play games; share digital photos with friends and family. The list goes on and on.”

Mediacom was among the earliest cable companies to offer the new-generation broadband service of DOCSIS 3.0, which it makes available to both residential and business customers.

Each Mediacom Ultra 50 customer is equipped with a new, more powerful modem configured for the higher Internet speeds.

“The broadband power of Mediacom Ultra 50 is in greater demand today than even just 12 months ago,” Swatosh said. “It’s because families are using more digital devices that connect to the Internet -- multiple tablets, laptops and smart phones. And also, gaming consoles connect to the Internet to download software and offer ‘live’ interactive games with competitors and friends all over the world. With these dramatic changes in the way we use the Internet, the need for more speed has never been greater. Ultra 50 speed delivers a reliably better experience for the whole family, no matter what they want to use the Internet for.”

In recent months Mediacom installed additional technology in its northern California cable systems to expand the capabilities of its fiber communications network.

Those private capital investments made it possible to broaden the availability of the advanced Ultra 50 Internet service to residential and business areas throughout Lake County.

Mediacom Communications is the nation's eighth largest cable television company and one of the leading cable operators focused on serving the smaller cities in the United States, with a significant concentration in the Midwestern and Southeastern regions.

Mediacom Communications offers a wide array of broadband products and services, including traditional and advanced video services such as digital television, video-on-demand, digital video recorders, high-definition television, as well as high-speed Internet access and phone service.

Through Mediacom Business, the company offers affordable broadband communications solutions that can be tailored to any size business.