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Comcast Planning Gigabit Cable For Entire US In 2-3 Years

Posted by samzenpus on from the greased-lightning dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Robert Howald, Comcast's VP of network architecture, said the company is hoping to upgrade its entire cable network within the next two years. The upgraded DOCSIS 3.1 network can support maximum speeds of 10 Gpbs. "Our intent is to scale it through our footprint through 2016," Howald said. "We want to get it across the footprint very quickly... We're shooting for two years."

6 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. I would laugh but that's too much effort by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...to blow on comcast.

    I predict this will be just like when Pac Bell said they were going to deploy DSL to all customers by 2000. Anyone else remember that shit? I'm in what used to be Pac Bell territory, and I still can't get DSL.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:I would laugh but that's too much effort by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The fastest DSL is slower than the worst cable connection Comcast or Charter can make

      DSL is also available in some areas that cable markets won't serve. My parents' house 10-12 miles outside of the area served by any cable company, but they get DSL just fine, and trust me 3Mbps may be slow by today's standards but it sure as heck beats dial-up.

      My brother lives just a little further out and even the DSL isn't available. His only options are dial-up (worthless these days), satellite and cellular. The latter two have bandwidth caps that make them very undesirable - particularly to his 7 year old who is used to streaming Netflix at her mom's house.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  2. Making promises for backdoor deals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The odds of this happening in 2-3 years are 0%. They have no real competition, why would they?

  3. This is how it will go by dirk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Assuming I believe them (which I do for places that have someone else offering gigabit but less so for other places), this is how it will go. If you are in a town with a competitor offering gigabit speeds, it will cost around $100 a month. If you are in a town without a competitor offering gigabit internet, they either will not offer gigabit speed (although they will probably add the infrastructure for when a competitor does) or they will charge $300 a month for it and it will have to be bundled with cable to get that price. Comcast has no real interest in offering better speeds and are being forced to because other companies are. That is the bottom line.

    --

    "Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
  4. Re:Australia take note... by NotDrWho · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comcast doesn't have any competition. They have monopolies in their cable internet markets. Verizon has basically stopped deploying FIOS. Google Fiber is deploying at such a glacial pace that it will be sometime next century before they pose any real threat. Municipal fiber is outlawed in most states. And AT&T's DSL service is weak tea even in comparison to Comcast's existing offerings.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  5. Re:2 years? by Jayfar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They certainly don't work for the government!

    In Soviet Philadelphia, the government works for Comcast. Seriously. That's how we avoided having that pesky RCN build a competing system here.