Comcast Battling AT&T with Faster Broadband Service

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Comcast is vying for broadband Internet users with its local competitor, AT&T by offering a new service with 16 Mbps downloads versus AT&T’s 10 Mbps service.

Comcast’s Blast service - Doubling its Broadband Speed

Comcast has achieved its competitive edge by offering Blast, a new tier of broadband Internet service which allows for the 16 Mbps downloads. That’s nearly twice the speed of its own Performance Plus service which averages 10 megabits per second. Speeds for uploads are also increasing from 768 kilobits per second to 2 Mbps. AT&T plans to counter Comcast’s new service by offering its own service upgrade later this year.

Speeds up to 100 Mbps Planned in the Future

Comcast intends to further upgrade its broadband speed through a new standard called Docsis 3.0 which may deliver download speeds up to 100 Mbps by the end of the year. The technology may eventually allow for download speeds as high as 160 Mbps.

Blast Broadband Prices in the Bay Area

The cost of Blast service is $66.95 a month. Comcast’s Bay Area cable television customers can receive Blast service for $52.95 per month. For Comcast phone service customers, the cost will be $62.95 per month. For Comcast Triple-play customers - those who currently have cable television, Internet, and phone service - can upgrade to Blast for just $10 per month.

Beginning Feb. 22, Comcast’s current Performance Plus customers will be automatically upgraded to Blast service at no additional cost.

Comcast’s Network Improvements

Comcast accomplished its speed upgrade by adding capacity to its network of nodes, each of which serve hundreds of homes. But all of Comcast’s customers may not be able to take advantage of the faster broadband service. Wireless router users who extend broadband through Wi-Fi will have to upgrade to 802.11 g or n routers; 802.11b routers cannot handle the faster speeds.