WideOpenWest (WOW!) took a big step toward the finish line on its rollout of DOCSIS 3.1 with launches in several more markets.

The latest WOW! markets to join the D3.1 list include Panama City and Pinellas, Fla.; Chicago and Naperville, Ill; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Charleston, S.C.; Augusta and West Point, Ga.; Valley, Ala.; and Detroit.

WOW! announced last November that it expected to wrap up its DOCSIS 3.1 deployments, which enable 1-Gbps broadband service (in the downstream direction) for both residential and business customers, to about 95% of its footprint by Q1 2018.

RELATED: WOW! to Complete 1-Gig Rollout in Q1 2018

WOW! initially launched the service in four markets in the fall of 2016 -- Auburn and Huntsville, Ala.; Evansville, Ind.; and Knoxville, Tenn., and has since followed with expansions into areas such as Grosse Point Shores, Mich.; and Marysville, Parma Heights, and North Ridgeville, Ohio.

WOW! expects to launch D3.1 in two more cities (likely sometime next month) and hit the 95% footprint deployment milestone, an official said.

The company has been rolling out 1-Gig service on HFC using DOCSIS 3.1 and the Arris E6000 converged cable access platform, but is also starting to use a new virtualized Distributed Access platform from Nokia as the operator looks to mine more capacity from its HFC network in certain scenarios. 

RELATED: WOW! Rolls with Nokia's Distributed Access Platform 

WOW! has been selling the 1-Gig residential service (paired with an upstream of 50 Mbps) for $79.99 per month as a stand-alone with a two-year contract, or $89.99 per month without a contract. WOW!’s 1-Gig service comes at lower prices when bundled with other WOW services. As an important differentiator, WOW’s gigabit offering is uncapped.

RELATED: WOW!: We’ll Stay Cap Free

Wave Broadband has expanded its Gig Speed Internet service for residential and business customers throughout its West Coast coverage areas in Washington, Oregon and California.

The service had previously only been available to select apartment and condominium buildings in Seattle, San Francisco and Portland.

Related: TPG to Buy Wave Broadband for $2.36B

Gig Speed Internet for residential customers is available at a retail promotional rate of $80 per month for the first year and comes with Wave’s Unlimited Data plan. After that time, a monthly rate of $99 applies, the company said.

The 1-Gig and faster service is also available to business customers, providing bandwidth for cloud-based computing, off-site data storage, video-conferencing, file sharing, e-Commerce, content streaming, and providing WiFi for staff and customers. Wave Gig Speed for Business includes no limits on data usage Wave said.

“We are thrilled to launch gigabit speeds throughout our coverage areas in Washington, Oregon and California,” Wave chief operating officer Harold Zeitz said in a statement. “During the past several years, Wave has focused on growing our fiber network specifically to accommodate gigabit and faster connections for our customers. The demand for fast, reliable internet connections at an affordable price is growing, and our Gig Speed Internet is the ideal solution for both residential and business customers.”

Altice USA has tripled Internet speeds for residential and business customers in its Optimum New York metro area footprint to 300 Megabits per second and 350 Mbps, respectively, more than a year earlier than expected.

The highest data speeds for Optimum residential and business customers had previously been 101 Mbps.

Altice USA purchased Optimum (the former Cablevision Systems) in June for $17.7 billion. As part of the New York State Public Service Commission’s approval of the deal, Altice agreed to tick up data speeds to 300 Mbps by the end of 2017.

Altice USA’s Suddenlink operation, which offers service in about a dozen states, offers 1 Gigabit-per-second high-speed Internet service.

Pricing for the highest tier is $99.95 per month for new customers and $64.95 per month for a new 200-Mbps residential tier. Optimum will continue to offer a 60 Mpbs base service for $44.95 monthly and a 100 Mbps tier for $54.95 per month. Existing customers can call Optimum for pricing for the new tiers.

Business Optimum 60-Mbps high-speed Internet service starts at $59.95 for new customers, with 100 Mbps available for $30 more. A 250 Mbps tier is priced at $149.95 and 350 Mbps is available for $189.95 for new customers.

“Altice USA is excited to launch significantly faster speeds across the Optimum footprint, made possible by investment in our superior network and infrastructure,” said Altice USA chairman and CEO Dexter Goei in a statement. “We are particularly pleased to be able to meet our public interest commitments more than one year ahead of schedule. Across the globe, Altice’s business model is centered on delivering the most advanced technology and capabilities. Today’s accelerated introduction of faster Optimum broadband speeds marks only the beginning of the new products and service enhancements that we plan to bring to our customers in the U.S.”