Bermuda CableVision is one step closer to being able to provide the fastest residential internet speeds ever offered on the Island.In a notice from the Government dated June 7, 2012, the Bermuda Telecommunications Commission stated it has approved an application by Bermuda CableVision to provide residential high-speed internet at speeds of 15 Mbps and 25 Mbps — subject to specific terms laid out by the Commission.Before CableVision can provide the services, the Commission says it must do three things. First, it must post on its website what the recommended requirements are for customers and what rented or owned equipment they will need. Secondly, CableVision must guarantee its customers at least an average 85 percent speed. And thirdly, they cannot offer 15 Mbps and 25 Mbps speeds until compatible speeds of 15 Mbps and 25 Mbps are offered by a licensed internet Service Provider (ISP).“We are excited that the Commission has approved these higher speed services for the Island — and we are confident that we can meet the additional requirements that were requested,” Bermuda CableVision said in a statement to The Royal Gazette.CableVision says it is currently testing the new speeds with ISPs and has applied for approval from the Telecommunications Commission to rent or sell the modems required to provide the new high-speed internet access. If approved, CableVision hopes to provide a download speed of 15 Mbps with a 2 Mbps upload speed and a 25 Mbps download speed with a 2 Mbps upload speed within the next six months.“While CableVision is excited that these new speeds will be tops for Bermuda, it’s just the tip of the iceberg as we head toward a time frame where the average household will require 100 MEG for their networking service.” said Terry Roberson, general manager of Bermuda CableVision.CableVision is one of two broadband access providers — along with BTC — and there are three ISPs on the island — Logic, North Rock and Transact. Residential customers need service from both to have home internet access.One ISP this newspaper spoke to said this approval is a major step and will soon allow them to provide what their customers have been demanding: faster internet.“We can’t provide the speed if the access provider isn’t providing the speed,” said Diana Winfield, a spokesperson for Logic. “We could provide any kind of speed — we can say we can give you 100 megs today, but the problem is, we can’t if the access providers have not received approval — and I know they’re constantly asking the government to approve higher speeds. So this is a really good step forward because that means that we’re going to see customers getting the speeds that they’ve been asking for.”Another ISP, North Rock, told this newspaper that they have not yet entered into talks with CableVision to start testing the service.“If they decide to proceed then North Rock would absolutely provide internet at 15 and 25 Mbps to our existing and new customers,” said North Rock spokeswoman Vicki Coelho.However, Logic confirmed for The Royal Gazette that they, as well as Transact, are currently working closely with CableVision to test the new service and make sure it’s working well before they make it available to customers. She said they can’t say a specific date the service will be available since they’re still testing and CableVision is still waiting on government approval for the modems, but it should be no later than six months from now.“Definitely. Definitely. We are all very eager to get this out,” Ms Winfield said. “We’ve just got to make sure rigorous testing is done. We need to make sure we’re integrated properly so that there are no hiccups — we don’t want our customers to have problems later so once we’re satisfied that everything’s working as it should be, then we can go to market with it. CableVision is just as interested as us in making sure this service succeeds and to show that this is a better experience, so we’re really excited.”The Bermuda Telecommunications Commission recently held an industry round-table to discuss numerous complaints from consumers regarding the quality of internet services provided on the island. Ms Winfield says many of those complaints stem ISPs handing internet access and another company handling broadband access.“I wrote in my letter [to the Commission] that a lot of times, the issue is, customers upgrade their speed with their ISP but then forget to upgrade it with their broadband access provider — you have to do it with both,” she said.The other issue, she says is high traffic — especially during the peak hours of 7pm to 10pm — a bottleneck she says CableVision has been appealing to the Commission for permission to resolve.“CableVision has said time and time again that look, if you allow us to provide this, we can migrate some of the traffic to this new network and alleviate some of the problems.”Ms Winfield says the Commission approving these new speeds is a step in the right direction for a “niche market” of households that have more and more devices. Homes with one or two computers, a couple of iPads, AppleTV and online gaming are certain to see slowdown and may be the kind of customers considering an upgrade to these new proposed services.“We definitely are excited about this for CableVision being granted the new speeds because there is a definite niche market,” Ms Winfield said. “People want to have higher speeds all the time. And we are all working together on this.”