It's not, i3 is only Warren and parts of Bristol I believe. I'm a few towns away from Bristol

Oh I understand fully why they're moving everyone to docsis 3.1. I used to run into old modems all the time (talking docsis 2) and I'd tell them to order a new one off Amazon and call Cox to activate it. in some cases they were paying for faster speeds (100/10) but still on a modem that couldn't get anywhere close to those sleeds.

As you said, most people don't need Gigabit or even anywhere close. But I've had friends and clients call for internet and are told something along the lines of "You can pay $X for 25 down/5 up" or very slightly more for Gigabit (I can't remember the speeds exactly so 25/5 could be a slight exaggeration. But it was so drastic that it made sense to go to gigabit.) In my case it was literally $5 more a month to go from 200 to gigabit. But every year I have to call and play the game and get a new promo.

Never let Cox give you a "free" modem. They did that to me at my business years ago and I found out a year later they started charging me for it at one of my renewals. This went on for almost 3 years. Thing is.. 2 years prior it died, so I replaced it with my own 3.1 modem (I keep a few in stock at work) and sent back their broken one. they were literally charging me for my own equipment.

At any rate. While "higher speeds are coming" we won't see that til docsis 4 which is guess is years and years down the road.

Cox stays in business because many have literally no other option. If I didn't game and care about ping, or upload large files, I'd consider a 5g hotspot from T-Mobile or something, but it's not an option for me.
If tomorrow Cox said "we're doubling our prices and giving you half the speed" there is literally nothing I could do about it.

I'm hopeful that fiber eventually comes down this way (not likely) or that starlink or some other wireless internet becomes a viable option.

While it is cool to have access to high speeds, it's mainly because the 1 cable company in the state is pushing everyone to upgrade to docsis 3.1 modems and gigabit plans. At a higher cost of course..... The article also conveniently calls it "internet speeds". While the download is good, unless you have FIOS your upload speeds are awful.

Half the state (maybe more) has Cox as it's only option.