WATERLOO - Mediacom is preparing to give local customers the speediest Internet service in the nation.

Company officials have chosen Waterloo to launch a new residential broadband product providing download speeds of 105 megabytes per second.

"That will make it the fastest Internet service in North America," said Lee Grassley, Mediacom's senior manager of government relations. "We want to use Waterloo as a showcase for this."

The "Ultra 105" package is expected to be available for residential customers by the end of December, with a similar business service launched within six months.

Mediacom's current home broadband service, allowing downloads at 20 Mbps and uploads at 2 Mbps, will still be available. The company is using new DOCSIS 3.0 technology to launch the 105 Mbps down and 10 Mbps upload package, and a 50-by-5 Mbps product will also be available.

Mike Kohler, division vice president of government relations for Mediacom, said the company is still evaluating prices for the ultra high-speed products, which will cost more for those who select them.

"Obviously this product is a platinum level product that is for a different type of consumer," Kohler said. "By the time of our rollout we will have prices in place for the high-end target we're trying to reach."

While not everyone needs or desires the super-fast Internet connections, Kohler said, they will appeal to those who use their computer heavily for entertainment, including high-level online gamers and movie downloaders. Those running home businesses may also find the faster service to be a benefit.

"There may be tele-health benefits down the road, where residents can exchange very high bandwidth information with their doctors and medical centers," Kohler added.

Mediacom is waiting to launch the service for businesses to ensure the bugs are worked out.

"The residential market serves as a good testing ground," Kohler said. "As anyone who owns or works at a business small or large knows, the stakes are higher in the business sector."

The 105 Mbps download speed was specifically chosen to put Waterloo on the digital map. Shaw Communications in Canada was offering the fastest North American service at 100 Mbps before Cablevision Services rolled out a 101 Mbps product in upstate New York last spring.

"As of this moment, Waterloo is quite literally the first and fastest in the entire country," Kohler said. "Chances are others or ourselves will exceed that at a later date."

Kohler said Mediacom selected Waterloo for the launch for a variety of reasons.

"First of all, the physical network in place is very robust," he said. "It is in great shape, and we know that the product will perform well from a technical side."

But Kohler said the company was also pleased with the cooperation it has received from City Hall. City Council members earlier this year approved a franchise amendment allowing the company to move government access channels to its digital lineup, freeing up bandwidth for the DOCSIS 3.0 launch.

"That tone of cooperation was really a significant factor," he said.

"We also wanted to select Waterloo as indicative of a typical Midwest community," Kohler added. "We had heard that the business community was questioning whether Waterloo was keeping pace. ...We think this says Waterloo is keeping pace."

Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley called Mediacom's announcement a "very promising development."

"It presents a great opportunity for the residential customers who have home businesses, are linked to home health care systems or who employ extensive home security systems, amongst other potential uses," Hurley said. "It can also be a genuine competitive advantage for our economic development efforts in attracting new business and industry.

"Just as important as gaining faster download and upload speeds is the fact that there is the capacity there to take advantage of uses and technology for which we haven't even dreamed," he added.