Comcast Brings Wideband to Four More Markets
MSO Offers Up to 50-Mbps Service in Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and Ft. Wayne, Ind.
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 12/11/2008 7:17:00 AM
Comcast expects to hit its goal to offer “wideband” cable-modem service with up to 50-Mbps downloads to 10 million premises by the end of 2008 with rollouts this month set for Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and Ft. Wayne, Ind.
The MSO has already announced the availability of higher-speed Internet services in Minneapolis/St. Paul; the Boston metro area, including parts of southern New Hampshire; Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs, including parts of southern New Jersey; Washington State, including Seattle; and Oregon.
With the additional markets, Comcast will reach its plan of deploying DOCSIS 3.0 service across 20% of its footprint this year, director of corporate communications Charlie Douglas said.
Comcast is offering the same residential pricing for the wideband tiers nationwide. Extreme 50, offering up to 50 Mbps downstream and up to 10 Mbps upstream, is $139.95 per month with cable TV service; Ultra, up to 22 down and 5 Mbps up, is $62.95 per month with cable TV service.
In the markets where it is deploying DOCSIS 3.0, the MSO is also increasing speeds for most existing customers. The “Performance” tier will double downstream and upstream speeds, offering up to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps respectively. “Performance Plus” customers will be upgraded to Comcast's Blast! tier, which will double download speeds to up to 16 Mbps and provide up to 2 Mbps of upload speed.
Comcast customers can check availability of Extreme 50 and Ultra wideband services at www.comcast.com/fastestfast.
In Chicago, Comcast wideband services starting next week will be available to residential customers in the northern and northwestern suburbs, including northern Cook County, Lake County, McHenry County and the northern edge of Kane County. The MSO expects to widen the service to the city of Chicago, its western and southern Chicago suburbs and northwestern Indiana are in the first half of 2009.
Customers in Atlanta’s North Fulton County will be the first in that market to be able to sign up for wideband. In Baltimore, the initial deployment areas are in Anne Arundel County, the city of Annapolis and Howard County, with the remainder of the market expected to be completed by the first half of 2009.
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