That’s because the new gigabit service, which is around $160 a month, uses a customer’s existing coaxial cable lines. Comcast’s original 2 gigabit service, which , uses fiber-optic lines, requires professional installation and costs around $300 per month.
“We’re pretty excited about this,” said Mike Spaulding, Comcast’s vice president of engineering. “Obviously, this is a big step forward on speed.”
With the software upgrades, Comcast can quadruple coaxial’s 250 mbps previous maximum. Translation: Download a with the 1 gig service, compared to 60 to 90 seconds with typical broadband, according to Comcast.
Colorado is among to get Comcast’s updated DOCSIS 3.1 technology, which requires a modem upgrade. The service first launched in Atlanta in March 2016. Last month, Utah became the .By the end of 2016, the number of gigabit connections was , according to a forecast by Deloitte Global, a consulting firm. Comcast’s expansion follows the lead of smaller providers, including Google Fiber, which ., in 2011.
In Colorado, just a few competitors offer gigabit service, including , and CenturyLink, which also offers gigabit in select Denver neighborhoods. Google Fiber, which owns Webpass, also and multi-unit buildings in Denver. NextLight, which charges $49.95 a month, says the gigabit service is now available to most residents in Longmont — and between 50 to 55 percent who can order it, do.
to offer gigabit to residents. It hopes to launch this fall, said Monica Webb, with Ting.
“Our pre-orders in Centennial are on par with our other markets,” Webb said.
In Colorado, Spaulding said that most Comcast customers get speeds of 100 mbps. One gigabit is 10 times faster.
But even Spaulding admits that not every customer needs gigabit. Most computers and devices, he pointed out, can’t even handle gigabit speeds. Customers who would see the most benefit already have multiple computing devices at home and multiple users who are gaming or binge watching Netflix and other internet TV. Gigabit may be overkill for many customers, he said.
“There’s not a lot of need for gigabit service for one customer to do one thing. But what it does is enable an even better experience as more devices in the home are streaming, whether it’s video or gaming or whatever they are doing in the home,” he said. “Most of our customers subscribe to the 100 mbps package today. Less than 10 percent of our customers are in the 200 to 250 mbps. We’ll see where one gig takes us.”
Of course, using internet to watch TV shows and movies could lead to reaching Comcast’s one-terabyte . Spaulding said that “less than 1 percent of customers reach the data cap.” And for those who near it, they get plenty of warning, he said. Subscribers who are charged $10 for each additional 50 GBs, with a maximum charge of $200. An “unlimited option” with no data caps is $50 more per month.
Customers who want Comcast’s new gigabit service must upgrade their modem to one that can handle DOCSIS 3.1 technology. Comcast is happy to rent that to you for about $10 a month. Customers can also skip the monthly rental fee and buy a compatible modem, including the or the . Both are less than $200.
Comcast’s “everyday price” for the gigabit service is $159.95 without a contract. Comcast plans to run promotions that will discount the price to $109.99 per month in Colorado. Comcast also launched the new gigabit service on Tuesday in Northern California, Kansas City, Houston, Oregon, Seattle and southwest Washington.
