SureWest Unleashes Faster Internet Speeds for Kansas City Business Customers

ROSEVILLE, Calif., Dec. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- SureWest Communications (NASDAQ: SURW) today announced free speed upgrades for its commercial Internet customers in the Kansas City market who are served over its hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network. The speed increases were made possible due to a DOCSIS 3.0 network upgrade, technology that allows the addition of high-speed data transfer over the network supporting these customers. DOCSIS 3.0 enables faster speeds through technology advances such as channel bonding.

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"These free speed upgrades join an already robust set of fundamental benefits available to our commercial Internet customers, including local technical support, continuous network monitoring and highly competitive pricing," said Matt Zuschlag, General Manager of Kansas Operations for SureWest. "Our commitment to our customers is to provide high quality, reliable, feature-rich Internet service."

In addition to providing free speed upgrades for most HFC business customers, SureWest is now able to offer Internet packages of up to 25 and 50 Mbps to customers who are not solely on fiber. "We expect this upgrade to attract new subscribers to SureWest while improving satisfaction and loyalty among our existing customers," said Zuschlag.

Speed upgrades for existing customers happened automatically as of December 1, 2011. Actual speed upgrades vary depending on the customer's current service package. For example, customers with up to 10 Mbps packages were upgraded to packages offering up to 15 Mbps at no additional charge.

Most customers will not require any new equipment to begin enjoying their faster speeds. However, customers who subscribe to speed packages of 15 Mbps or higher may require a new modem, which will be provided free of charge.

About SureWest
SureWest Communications (www.surewest.com) is a leading integrated communications provider and the bandwidth leader in the markets it serves. Headquartered in Northern California for more than 95 years, SureWest offers bundled residential and commercial services in the greater Sacramento and Kansas City regions that include IP-based digital and high-definition television, high-speed Internet, Voice over IP, and local and long distance telephone. SureWest was the nation's first provider to launch residential HDTV over an IP network and offers one of the nation's fastest symmetrical Internet services with speeds of up to 50 Mbps in each direction on its fiber-to-the-home network.

Contacts:        
Ron Rogers
SureWest, Director of Corporate Communications
916-746-3123
[email protected]

Anne Chacon
SureWest, Manager of Corporate Communications
916-786-1235
[email protected]

SOURCE SureWest Communications