For those that find $150, 50Mbps a little hard to swallow...
Comcast says they'll have 20% of their markets upgraded with faster DOCSIS 3.0 50Mbps speeds by the end of the year, and all customers will be upgraded by the end of 2010. Still, the only market deployed so far is Minneapolis/St. Paul -- where users can buy a 50Mbps downstream 5Mbps upstream connection for $150 per month. Additional launch markets should be coming very soon -- users have seen testing in New England at night, and Comcast techs in several markets tell me their markets are also running the new technology through its paces.
One tech tells me Comcast may be offering another new tier for those who find the $150 price point a little extreme. "Comcast MAY be launching DOCSIS 3.0 in Michigan region, with a 22/5 tier, along with the 50/5," says a Comcast insider. Unfortunately he's unable to offer a timeline, or an estimated price tag for the new tier. He did note that the faster 50Mbps tier will remain $150.
It's not clear whether this 22Mbps tier would replace their existing 16Mbps "Blast!" tier, or simply act as another option aimed at FiOS (and customers eager for faster upstream speeds). The tier would of course compete with Verizon's 20Mbps/5Mbps FiOS offering, which costs $52.99/month when bundled with phone service and $57.99/month solo. Verizon's 50Mbps/20Mbps tier is $139.95/month with phone service and $144.95/month without.
Either way, it wouldn't be particularly surprising to see Comcast completely revamp their tiers and pricing once we see some broader launches of DOCSIS 3.0 technology. Insiders tell me at the moment, FiOS markets are upgrade priorities, while Comcast feels confident their existing 16Mbps Blast! tier can more than compete with AT&T U-Verse (which offers 10Mbps). Comcast customers: what price would be nice for a 22Mbps/5Mbps tier?