Comcast: 50 Mbps Web Speed For $150 A Month

April 7, 2008

Comcast has 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.

“This announcement marks the beginning of the evolution from broadband to wideband,” said Mitch Bowling, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Comcast High-Speed Internet, Comcast Cable. “Wideband is the future and it’s coming fast. We believe wideband will usher-in a new era of speed and Internet innovation for today’s digital consumers.”

Comcast is rolling out these extreme speeds in the Twin Cities region beginning today. 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.

“As Minnesota’s leading broadband provider, we’re thrilled to be offering this exciting new option for high-speed Internet customers,” said Bill Wright, Vice President, Comcast Twin Cities Region. “This is nothing less than a watershed moment for the future of this region. Today’s announcement emphasizes our commitment to help keep the Twin Cities and Minnesota on the cutting edge of new technology.”

Coupled with the new extreme tier offering, Comcast High-Speed Internet residential customers in the Twin Cities region will also enjoy increased upload speeds on their existing services for no additional cost. Comcast will nearly triple the upload speed of its 6 Mbps / 384 Kbps Performance tier to 6 Mbps / 1 Mbps and more than double the upload speed of its 8 Mbps / 768 Kbps Performance Plus tier to 8 Mbps / 2 Mbps. In addition, with Comcast’s PowerBoost technology, customers are able to enjoy even faster speeds of up to 12 Mbps downloads and 2 Mbps uploads on the Performance tier and 16 Mbps downloads on the Performance Plus tier for files like videos, games, music and digital photographs.

These announcements propel the Twin Cities region into one of the most advanced high-speed Internet communities in the nation and showcase the power of Comcast’s advanced digital, high-capacity fiber-optic network. Comcast has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Twin Cities to create an advanced fiber-optic network that is flexible, scalable and ready to expand into the future. The result is an unmatched consumer and business experience that will continue to converge video, high-speed Internet and digital phone services with future applications like Universal Caller ID to the TV and PC, viewable voice mail and the ability to program DVRs remotely.