The press spent most of the week fawning over Comcast's demonstration of 150Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 technology (dubbed "superfast modems!" by most), a few bothering to point out that those speeds -- while promising -- won't be seen for a very long time. Early Comcast deployment of new channel bonding gear will be seen only in the limited areas where there's FiOS competition, and initial speeds -- still a year or two out -- won't be anywhere near 150Mbps.

Out there in the real world, the DOCSIS 3.0 standard hasn't been solidified yet. While Comcast will be using pre-cert gear to achieve faster speeds starting next year, many less deep-pocketed cable operators will be sluggish at upgrading aging networks. Also, many live in markets not deemed profitable enough to upgrade, be it FiOS, U-Verse or DOCSIS 3.0. Not to rain on the parade, but 150Mbps is a long way off for most of us.

The good news for Comcast is that the deployment will cost significantly less than what Verizon is spending on FiOS. Comcast's Steve Craddock telling NCTA Cable Show attendees that Comcast can deploy DOCSIS 3 for just "couch change" (assuming you have a few billion in quarters in your sofa) in only a few years. This compared to Verizon, who'll be spending $23 billion on FiOS deployments that Craddock insists will reach just 14% of the country when completed.

Verizon alerts us they've responded to all of the Comcast press attention over at their blog here and here. Verizon Communications exec John Czwartacki notes that Verizon's GPON upgrades could allow them to theoretically offer 400Mbps to consumers (which you also won't see anytime soon):

"149Mbs down and - er - no news on upstream, is great, but as they say, 'you ain’t seen nothing yet.' FiOS engineer Brian Whitton discussed here at PolicyBlog equipment being installed this summer that can deliver speeds up to 400Mbs. Four-hundred Mbs! On equipment being installed this summer! We won’t light up that speed right away because there’s nothing yet out there in wide use that can use it. Rest assured, that day is coming."

Verizon shouldn't get too excited, since via channel bonding, cable should be able to stay competitive. We love the fact that these industry giants are battling for our consumer affections with promises of sweet bandwidth, but it's time to bring on the Mbps.