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Comcast Is Preparing To Launch 1 Gbps Broadband Service

Quite some time before 1 Gbps fiber to the press release became the industry PR trend du jour, Comcast had started offering a 505 Mbps down, 100 Mbps up tier. The tier isn't cheap -- it runs users around $300 a month, comes with a $1,000 ETF, a $250 activation fee, and a $250 installation fee.

It's also only available in select locations where Comcast has run fiber all the way to a customer home -- usually either higher-end developments or select apartment buildings.

Like other cable operators, Comcast's about a year out from offering 1 Gbps speeds on a broader scale to most of its footprint using DOCSIS 3.1, which is capable of providing speeds of 10 Gbps down, 1 Gbps up. The company this week confirmed it's now conducting 3.1 trials with a goal of a 2016 launch.

"The target for us is to be in the field establishing network readiness in 2015," states Comcast Vice President of Access Architecture Jorge Salinger told attendees of a cable industry conference this week. "Our overall goal is to be able to deploy DOCSIS 3.1 and gigabit-per-second in a broad scale starting in 2016."

It's too early to know what the price point will be on this new offering, but if the company's existing high-end offerings are any indication, it's not going to be cheap. That is, at least in markets where Google Fiber or municipal broadband builds are nowhere to be found. It's also unclear if Comcast's slowly creeping usage caps will be part of the equation.

Most recommended from 100 comments


videomatic3
join:2003-12-12
Pleasanton, CA

4 recommendations

videomatic3

Member

i cant wait

seriously cant wait for my 1000/5 connection

ieolus
Support The Clecs
join:2001-06-19
Danbury, CT

2 edits

2 recommendations

ieolus

Member

The Price

So the price will be $500 a month, with a $2,000 ETF, a $500 activation fee and a $500 installation fee?