Despite the endless hype surrounding gigabit deployments by Google Fiber, AT&T, Comcast, Cox and others, the actual number of consumers that can get these speeds remains relatively small. Many of these gigabit fiber deployments target only specific cities, or specific, high-end developments within specific cities. But with the new range of gigabit capable DOCSIS 3.1 modems now certified, 2016 is the year that we'll start seeing an explosion in gigabit speeds delivered over traditional coaxial cable.
As such, it's not too surprising to see research firm Deloitte predicting a
ten fold bump in the number of gigabit connections this year.
"The number of gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s) Internet connections will surge to 10 million by year-end, a tenfold increase of which about 70 percent will be residential connections," states the firm. "Rising demand will be fueled by increasing availability and falling prices."
Your mileage on Deloitte's "falling prices" claim may vary depending on the market you live in and the level of local competition. Companies forced to compete with municipal broadband and Google Fiber will often hit the $70 price point, but as we've seen with providers like AT&T, that same gigabit connection can cost $120 or more in markets where there's no pricing pressure.
And while gigabit connections continue to be a major media focus, many broadband consumers (unless they live in rural markets) are perfectly happy with the speeds they currently have, they'd just like to it offered at a lower price point, making price a more important conversation point than gigabit availability.