Comcast is Rolling Out 2-gig Internet to ‘Millions’

Comcast intends to bring multi-gig internet speeds to 34 cities throughout the United States by the end of the year and will afterward grow its reach to more than 50 million homes by the end of 2025. According to a press release, the internet provider has begun rolling out 2-gig speeds over its broadband network in Colorado Springs, CO; Augusta, GA; Panama City Beach, FL; and Philadelphia, PA.

Customers in these cities will additionally benefit from upload speeds that Comcast claims are five to 10 times faster than what it presently provides. The upload speeds will max out at 200Mbps, even with the new Gigabit x2 plan; however, Comcast plans on changing that. It will release multi-gig symmetrical speeds in 2023, allowing multi-gig speeds for both downloads and uploads.

Fiber optic internet

While symmetrical uploads and downloads are expected with fiber optic internet, cable has lately fallen behind. However, with DOCSIS 4.0, a high-bandwidth broadband standard that enables around 10Gbps downloads and 6Gbps uploads, providers like Comcast can allow symmetrical connections over cable. Comcast is already shifting to the new standard and accomplished 4Gbps upload and download speeds during a trial in January.

Although firms like AT&T, Frontier, Verizon, and Google are growing their fiber networks, the service is still mostly restricted to customers found in metro areas. Symmetrical speeds on cable networks could be a welcome alternative for those seeking a faster link but that are not in locations where fiber is present.

Meanwhile, customers situated in Colorado Springs, Augusta, Panama City Beach, and Philadelphia will not need to upgrade their modem to access Comcast’s faster (but not symmetrical) 2-gig speeds. Comcast Cable EVP Elad Nafshi informed Fierce Telecom that when Comcast does roll out its symmetrical internet services, customers will require an update to their modem.

Originally published by: The Verge