Comcast offers 50 Mbps Internet, but it won't come cheap
Comcast will begin offering a new "extreme high-speed" Internet connection in the Minnesota Twin Cities region today, with nationwide rollout expected by 2010. The new Internet service will cost $150 per month and will offer 50 Mbps download and 5 Mbps in upload speeds.
The new high-speed Internet is part of Comcast's rollout of the DOCSIS 3.0 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications) cable broadband standard, which was first introduced during the Consumers Electronics Show last January.
Analysts first believed the service would launch in areas where AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS have taken hold, but Comcast chose to deploy it in an area where consumers don't have extremely fast Internet connections. Like Comcast's new offering, Verizon FiOS connection can offer speeds up to 50 Mbps.
Theoretically, these extreme speeds will allow users to download 4GB high-definition movies in 10 minutes. However, the service provider would also need to be cable of delivering content at such speeds.
"This announcement marks the beginning of the evolution from broadband to wideband," Comcast High-Speed Internet Senior Vice President and General Manger Mitch Bowling said in a statement. "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."
The Philadelphia-based company's announcement comes almost a week after it agreed to work with BitTorrent on network management and architecture issues. Comcast throttled the Internet connections of some users who used up high amounts of bandwidth due to file sharing.
Comcast aims to have the new Internet speeds available to 20% of its subscribers by the end of the year. But it is unknown which markets will receive the 50 Mbps Internet service next.
Comcast wants to offer speeds up to 100 Mbps over the next two years with an overall goal of 160 Mbps or more after 2010. The cable operator's most popular Internet service offers 6 Mbps download and 384 kilobits upload speed, for $42.95 bundled with a TV package.