Comcast unveiled a new extreme high-speed Internet service in its first DOCSIS 3.0, or wideband, market in the Twin Cities region. For the first time, Comcast is offering residents and businesses one of the fastest broadband services available in the U.S. today: up to 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) downloads and 5 Mbps uploads.
The new speed tier option is a demonstration of Comcast’s first deployment of next-gen DOCSIS 3.0 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications) technology, which sets a new standard for delivering high-speed Internet service across fiber-optic cable networks. Comcast expects to deliver even faster speeds of up to 100 Mbps to its customers over the next two years with the capability of delivering higher speeds of 160 Mbps or more in the future.
Comcast is rolling out these extreme speeds in the Twin Cities region. With download speeds of up to 50 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps, customers will be able to download movies, music and television shows, as well as upload digital photographs faster than ever. For example, Comcast customers using the 50 Mbps service could download a 4 GB HD movie in about 10 minutes. To download the same file on Qwest’s 1.5 Mbps DSL service would take more than 6 hours. Even on Qwest’s fastest 7 Mbps DSL service, the file would take more than an hour to download. The new 50 Mbps / 5 Mbps speed tier will be offered at $149.95 per month.
Originally posted on April 3, 2008 @ 7:33 pm