Cox plans gigabit Internet speeds in 3 cities

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ATLANTA (AP) — Cable company Cox Communications says it plans to boost Internet download speeds to 1 gigabit per second starting in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Omaha, Nebraska, late this year. That is dozens of times faster than typical broadband plans.

The move will bring its service in line with Google's fiber rollout in cities such as Kansas City and Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas; and an AT&T rollout in Austin.

Cox also said it plans to add 1 Gbps Internet speed to any new residential construction project in its footprint nationwide in places such as San Diego; Providence, Rhode Island; Orange County, California; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Tucson, Arizona.

It plans to spread the faster rate to the rest of its service area by the end of 2016.

The company also plans to double the most popular tiers of Internet service for all its customers this year — boosting those with 25 Mbps to 50 Mbps and those with 50 Mbps to 100 Mpbs. The two tiers represent 70 percent of all Cox's customers.

Privately held Cox serves about 6 million customers. It is the third largest U.S. cable company.