Road Runner hits New York, Ohio

In the ongoing, but painstaking race to provide cable modem access across the country, Time Warner today is announcing agreements to bring its Road Runner cable modem service to two new cable systems.

To do so, Road Runner has inked deals with Century Cable systems and Fanch Cablevision of Indiana. New Yorkers, with Century Cable, and Bowling Green, Ohio residents, with Fanch, will be the first two cities to benefit from the separate deals.

With @Home and others launching cable modem systems, the race is on. But Time Warner is pushing to reach 4.5 million homes nationally--making it one of the most aggressive launches by any cable company. Last month Time Warner announced that it would launch Road runner in Albany, New York.

Cable modems are seen as one of the most promising new technologies because they allow users to get super-fast access to the Internet. Many Netizens have said they have been turned off by the slow load times they've encountered due to slow modem speeds.

For that reason, content providers have said that cable modems could change the face of the Net, if and when they are widely adapted.