Comcast Wideband to Reach 30 Million Households this Year

February 25, 2009

By Jennifer Hull

Comcast has announced its new goal to reach more than 30 million homes and businesses this year with super-fast wideband speeds running on next-generation DOCSIS 3.0. Comcast also confirmed it has now introduced these new faster Internet speeds to more than 15 million homes and businesses.

Comcast Launches Wideband Internet Speeds up to 50 Mbps

Comcast's super-fast speeds have already begun launching in ten major markets, including the Twin Cities, the Boston metropolitan region and parts of southern New Hampshire, the Philadelphia metropolitan area, parts of New Jersey, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Ft. Wayne, Portland, and Seattle. Comcast will launch additional new markets in the weeks and months ahead.

With wideband, Comcast is able to offer some of the fastest Internet speeds available today, including the Extreme 50 tier at up to 50 Mbps downstream. Comcast is also doubling speeds for the majority of existing high-speed Internet customers at no additional cost.

"What we're finding is that speed really matters to consumers, particularly as they watch more video on the Internet on sites like YouTube and Fancast.com. In addition, gaming, downloading, and other applications get even better with more speed," said Steve Burke, chief operating officer and president of Comcast Cable. "Looking ahead, our goal is to get our entire footprint up to 12 Mbps and to offer 50 to 100 Mbps in as many places as possible."

Comcast Wideband Offers Two Premium Speed Tiers

As part of the wideband deployment, Comcast is launching two new premium speed tiers to its residential and business class customers. Both services are ideal for households or businesses simultaneously using several computers or Internet-connected devices. They also will appeal to those who simply want some of the fastest speeds available in the U.S. today.