Comcast Launches Streaming Service and Unveils Pricing For 2G Fiber

An anonymous reader writes: Comcast has announced the release of its Gigabit Pro service which offers speeds up to 2 gigabits per second. The service is $300 a month (agree to a two year contract and get the early promotional price of $159 per month) with a $500 installation and activation fee. The new service is only available in the Jacksonville, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Florida area. This announcement comes on the heels of the $15-per-month "Comcast Stream" launch. The live TV and streaming video service does not require a cable TV subscription, but live TV channels can only be watched on customer's home internet connections.

Comments

Decisions, decisons

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

If my choices were Comcast or rabbit ears on top of the TV and dial-up, I'd go for the rabbit ears.

Re:Decisions, decisons

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

Sorry, I meant to say dial-up with a Hayesmodem 1200 and a terminal emulator, manually doing the AT DT stuff from memory.

Re:Decisions, decisons

[trazom28]

Hmm.. internal or external? And would you be transferring those files with Xmodem? :)

Re:Decisions, decisons

[arth1]

Do rabbit ears provide 2 gbps internet? Why are they even an option here?

Does Comcast provide 2 Gbps internet? Note the words "up to" - they are very significant, and changes the meaning from "you will get 2 Gbps" to "you may or may not get 2 Gbps, but never more".
30 Mbps satisfies "up to 2 Gbps".

No live sports? No thanks.

[BenJeremy]

Still no practical choices to get a full plate of live sports without being tied to cable... Football, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball - college and pro levels, that shouldn't be too much to ask for, but either you spend $100+ for cable, or run XBMC/Kodi with SportsDevil to stream it.

Geez, idiots, just give me an option to pay $10~25/mo for live locals and sports stations and you'll get my money.

Unfortunately, you are only interested in short-sheeting the consumer with fewer offerings than NetFlix or Sling at a higher price with more limitations.

Is a sub-80 IQ a requirement for an MBA and a job as a media company executive these days?

Re:No live sports? No thanks.

[asylumx]

Seriously. You know it's bad when even the sports league's network blacks out their own broadcasts so only the cable company can carry it.

thanks, but no thanks

[nimbius]

If anyone other than the toilet brush of the internet were to offer me this, id give it a go. However, it would be irresponsible of me to assume Comcast has any intention of offering a useful product that adheres to the advertised rate and doesnt screw up the billing. Comcast has over 20 years of proven malicious,reckless, and wanton disregard for their customers.

The service is $300 a month

You heard it folks, step right up for $300 a month in abusive customer service, random SRVFAIL hijacking, complete prohibition on running "a server" of any kind, advertisement injection, the resale of your personal information, and best of all an ardent refusal to cancel this service.

What's the cap?

[Ultra64]

Let me guess, 2Gbps with a 250GB cap.

Re:What's the cap?

[Ingenium13]

I think the south east is the only region that actually implements the cap. It's been "suspended" ever since they announced it, at least in California

Re:What's the cap?

[SirMasterboy]

From the announcement: "This tier is exempt from usage caps/usage-based billing, but actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed."

2G or 4G?

[darkain]

I wanted to make a 2G (bandwidth) vs 4G (cell network) joke, but decided to pop up with some actual useful information instead.

Currently Comcast has this in their contract:

"For upgrading from Performance to Blast!®, ranges based on area, from $10.00 to $12.00 more per month (subject to change)"

This is an additional service charge ON TOP OF the higher price already charged to get faster internet service. That's right, they're advertising one price, and then tacking on additional fees for that bandwidth. Just for having faster bandwidth, you're forced to pay an additional $10+ on top of the already higher rate.

So, what is the premium "Blast" or "2G" fees going to be with this new service? Sure, the base rate is already an outrageous $300... but this is Comcast, who is actively tacking on hidden fees to customers outside of the usual regulatory fees.

Unamused

[nehumanuscrede]

Only in America can we roll out a service so very few will pay for* while, at the same time, big chunks of the nation are still unable to get any sort of broadband connection at all. :| The ISP's know where the money is so that's where they concentrate their deployments. At least make SOME effort to get bare minimum broadband access to everyone before you start selling the network equivalent of a sports car.

I would love to see Broadband Internet treated like the POTS lines of yester-year as part of the Title II requirements. Quit letting the monopolies cherry-pick their regions for deployment and force them to deploy into the areas where Capitalism loathes to go. ( In your best Yale or Harvard voice " You know. . . where the poor people live." ) Hey Verizon, hows that FIOS roll out coming along that you promised everyone ?

Threaten to go all 1984 on their ass ( referring to Divestiture here ) or nullify all non-compete laws when it comes to Metro Areas rolling out their own networks.
It's amusing just how fast big ISP's can deploy high speed networks when a Metro area says " Screw it " and starts deploying their own.

The ONLY way I'm ever going to see true competition or even competitive pricing is if I'm lucky enough to live in an area where Google has plans to deploy their infrastructure. That seems to be the only motivating factor if you're a large ISP these days. OMGGOOGLEISGONNASTEALOURBUSINESSCUSTOMERS DO SOMETHING !!!!!

So the best thing we get out of Comcast is to roll out a service that's completely ridiculous in price. I wonder if you get a discount if you allow them to spy on your traffic like AT&T does ? ( Yes, I'm sure they all do it, but AT&T is the only one admitting to it and offering a discount for the privilege )

*Because:

a) It's Comcastic and ( one of, if not THE worst ranked ISP in the US )
b) It's $300 / month and ( hahahahahahahahah . . . . no. See A above )
c) No way in hell it will be unlimited usage ( regardless of their claims ) without some data cap or throttling mechanism

Sounds reasonable

[GoodNewsJimDotCom]

For only about as much as you'd pay in a car payment, you can have the speed other countries get for about the price of a cup of coffee a day.

Re:Overpriced.

[drooling-dog]

only drawback is you have to buy your own endpoint gear as they will not rent it to you.

That's a benefit, not a drawback. You'll come out ahead money-wise inside a year, and your router will be under your control.

"Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed"

[SecurityGuy]

You lost me right there, guys. For $300/mo, you darn well better guarantee some particular minimum level of service. If you can't, or won't, there's zero chance I'm signing up for three years of somewhere between zero and 2Gbps.

Customer Support is clueless about this

[dmitrygr]

Tried to ask if it is available in my Area.
Here's the REAL transcript:

Live Chat
user dmitry has entered room
analyst Elvin has entered room

Elvin
1:42PM

Hello dmitry_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Elvin. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Elvin
1:42PM

Hi! Welcome to Comcast High Speed Internet Technical Support (Residential Accounts). You can call me Elvin, I'll be happy to get your concern addressed today.

dmitry
1:42PM

My Issue: Is Gigabit Pro available in Rex Manor Area of Mountain View, CA?

Elvin
1:42PM

I understand that you have question with Xfinity services. I am a costumer also, so I understand ho wimportant this is. I will assist you today.

Elvin
1:43PM

May I know your exact concern, please?

dmitry
1:43PM

Is Gigabit Pro available in Rex Manor Area of Mountain View, CA?

dmitry
1:43PM

Gigabit Pro service from comcast

Elvin
1:43PM

May I know what Gigabit Pro is, please?

dmitry
1:43PM

claims to be available in the SF bay area

dmitry
1:43PM

i want to know

dmitry
1:43PM

dude...

dmitry
1:43PM

it is on YOUR website..

dmitry
1:44PM

http://www.xfinity.com/multi-g...

Elvin
1:45PM

Thank you for that.

Elvin
1:47PM

Gigabit Pro will generally be available to homes within one-third of a mile of Comcast's fiber network and will require installation of professional-grade equipment. Select markets in Atlanta, California, Chattanooga, Chicago, Florida, Knoxville, and Nashville have been chosen for initial launch, with the addition of numerous West Coast markets in the coming months.

dmitry
1:47PM

ok...so can you tell me if a given address meets that criteria?

Elvin
1:49PM

To properly assist you, I will transfer you to our sales department. Would that be fine?

Elvin
1:50PM

I would like to set your expectation that you have actually reached Comcast High Speed Internet Technical Support.

Elvin
1:50PM

No worries, I can still resolve your issue by connecting this chat to the department that handles this. I assure you that this will be accommodated accordingly.

dmitry
1:50PM

ok

Elvin
1:50PM

Thank you. Please wait while the problem is escalated to another analyst. There may be a 3-5 minutes hold for the chat to be assisted, and you will see a message that says I have âoeleft the roomâ; but please don't close the chat window for the next available agent to assist you.

Elvin
1:53PM

By the way, may I know your zip code, please

Re:Customer Support is clueless about this

[jd2112]

Short Version:
Customer: I would like to sign up for 2Gbps fiber service.
Comcast: Sorry, It's not available in your location.
Customer: But I haven't given you my address.
Comcast: Doesn't matter.

The Best Part?

[jon3k]

The best part is when no one signs up, they'll tell the FCC there's no demand for fiber.

Re:yes much more than 2Gbs

[reboot246]

I have Charter cable and it's great, but for sports on local channels I go with my rabbit ears. It's OTA uncompressed HD and even though Charter's picture is fine, the difference is very visible. Sports, especially football, is all I ever watch on my local channels.

I also get an average 66 Mbps from their internet service and I see no need for anything faster right now. I don't have a 4K television so I don't have any experience with needing to stream 4K, but I think the service I have now can probably handle it.