The Comcast logo is displayed on one of the company's vehicles.Comcast today announced that it is increasing its basic Internet speeds in Chattanooga at no additional charge to customers and is introducing other even faster Internet options to compete with EPB in the "Gig City."
Comcast is boosting the speed of its popular Blast! tier from 50 megabits per second to 75 megabits per second in Chattanooga and other Southern cities today at no extra charge. Comast also is introducing its new Extreme 150 megabits-per-second tier and has begun testing in Tennessee and other southern cities a connection technology delivering 2 gigabits per second - or twice the top speed offered by EPB's first-in-the-nation gigabit-per-second service.
"Comcast already provides the fastest Internet speeds to the most homes and businesses in Tennessee, and our goal is to give our customers choices that fit their lifestyle and all the broadband capacity they need to stay ahead of future technologies and innovations," Comcast Regional Senior Vice President Doug Guthrie said in a statement today. "We'll continue to ensure they get the best overall experience with blazing fast speeds and the most Wi-Fi coverage on the go, delivered over our state-of-the-art network."
Today's announcement of the new higher speed for Comcast's popular Blast! tier comes as Comcast rolls out its Gigabit Pro service, a residential fiber-to-the-home connection that can deliver 2 Gbps upload and download speeds. Comcast said it is testing a promotional price in Chattanooga and other Southern markets for the new 2 Gig service of $159 a month, or just over half the usual $299 price.
Comcast is also testing DOCSIS 3.1, a scalable, national, next generation 1 Gbps technology solution, and expects to begin rolling out DOCSIS 3.1 in early 2016. When fully deployed, it will mean almost every customer in Comcast's service area will be able to receive gigabit speeds over its existing fiber and coax network.
For now, Comcast said customers with Blast! speed may need to re-start their modems to take advantage of the 50 percent upgrade in Internet speeds. Comcast will also notify those customers who may need to upgrade their modems to receive the increased speeds. Customers who lease modems from Comcast will be able to receive upgraded modems at no additional charge.
A list of approved modems can be found online at http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/.
Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. Headquartered in Atlanta, Comcast Cable's Central Division serves 19 million combined video, high-speed Internet and voice customers and operates in 15 states from Michigan to Florida.