I sat down with Armstrong’s Chief Technical Officer Mike Giobbi to discuss recent improvements to the broadband network that our customers rely on. Giobbi remarked on how much the technology has changed and why it has had to change. Giobbi remembers helping to install our very first Zoom customer in Connellsville, PA in 1997.  While we may laugh now at the “high speed” of 500 kbps Armstrong offered then, it was quite fast for the time. While the speed was more than enough for customers in the late 1990s, it was the “always on” feature that customers loved most. No dialing up, no missing calls, and no getting kicked off by an incoming call. (Kids, ask your parents about “dial up internet” for an eye opener.) Internet content during those days was mostly “bursty” content, as Giobbi explains it. Quick bursts of text and images were loaded when a web page was opened. Then a new page was opened; another burst of data. Today we have multimedia coming through our internet connection with a constant “stream” of data for video and music consumption. Even text and image based social networks like Facebook and Twitter constantly update as you browse your news feeds. Another factor during those early years of broadband internet was the number of devices in your home. At this point most homes had a main computer that the entire household used for their surfing, emailing and IM’ing. Soon, you purchased a newer computer and moved the older computer into another room. Now, homes have anywhere from those two computers to a dozen devices. Think about it; smartphones, tablets, laptops, printers, game consoles, handheld game devices, internet connected televisions, even sewing machines and refrigerators can all be connected to your home WiFi network. Over the years, as broadband customers, content and devices have grown tremendously, Armstrong has  invested in the Zoom Internet network to deliver a consistent, fast and reliable Internet experience to customers.  Since 2005, Armstrong’s capacity to the Internet has grown from 2 GB to 50 GB.  In 2010, Armstrong introduced DOCSIS 3 technology to deliver ultra-fast Internet speeds, up to 50 Mb/s download.  Today, Armstrong is working with large Internet content providers like Netflix to improve the customer experience by bringing popular multimedia content from all across the Internet closer to the customer. As technology and consumption habits change, Armstrong is prepared to meet the needs of its customers.