Existing Baltimore-area customers to see download speeds double
Comcast on Thursday debuted a new high-speed Internet service that will double existing Baltimore-area customers’ download speeds and allow higher-paying customers to download a six-gigabyte, high-definition movie in just 16 minutes.
The Philadelphia-based communications provider, which has about 1 million customers in Maryland, is making the jump from “broadband” to “wideband” technology, called DOCSIS 3.0.
Comcast will at first roll out the new services to homes and businesses throughout communities in Anne Arundel County, the city of Annapolis and Howard County. The service will be available to the remainder of Comcast’s Baltimore market, including Baltimore City and Baltimore County, in the first half of 2009.
“This next-generation service … will dramatically enhance [customers’] online experience,” said Fred Graffam, senior vice president of Comcast’s Beltway Region.
With the fastest wideband connection, a two-gigabyte, standard-definition movie will download in about five minutes and a 300-megabyte standard-definition television show will download in seconds.
For area residences and businesses that simultaneously use several computers of Internet-controlled devices, Comcast is offering two new premium-speed tiers:
» “Extreme 50” offers up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) of download speed and up to 10 Mbps of upload speed for $139.95 per month.
» “Ultra” offers up to 22 Mbps of download speed and up to 5 Mbps of upload speed for $62.95 per month.
Comcast is also increasing speeds for most to of its existing customers at no additional cost. “Performance” tier customers will see their download and upload speeds double to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively. “Performance Plus” customers will be upgraded to the “Blast!” tier and see their download and upload speeds double to 16 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.
Comcast is looking to keep pace with communications competitor Verizon, which is expanding its fiber-optic-based high-speed network, FiOS, in parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties.
In addition to Baltimore, Comcast on Thursday debuted the new service in Atlanta, Chicago and Fort Wayne, Ind.
The service already is being offered in the Twin Cities, the Boston metropolitan area, parts of southern New Hampshire, the Philadelphia metro area, New Jersey, Seattle and Spokane, Wash., and Portland and Eugene, Ore.
