Comcast on Thursday announced its gigabit internet service is now available across most of the cable giant’s footprint, in what the operator says represents the fastest deployment of gigabit speeds to the most homes nationwide.
Comcast reached its goal, which a company executive first announced more than three years ago, to deploy DOCSIS 3.1 technology across its entire network footprint by 2018. Rollouts began about 18 months ago, following trials in 2016. Comcast’s Xfinity Gigabit Internet and Comcast Business Gigabit offerings now cover nearly all of the operator’s 58 million homes and businesses passed across 39 states and the District of Columbia. Comcast said the deployments make the operator the nation’s largest provider of gigabit internet service.
Customers seem to be taking to higher service tiers, with 75 percent of Xfinity residential customers opting for speeds of 100 Mbps or higher, according to Comcast.
Last year, Comcast introduced its new xFi Advanced Gateway, designed to support gigabit speeds over WiFi. The operator’s broadband service also relies on its Xfinity xFi platform, a digital dashboard that enables monitoring and management of WiFi connected devices in the home.
In May, Comcast launched a new mesh WiFi system offering, xFi Pods, which pair with either Comcast’s wireless or advanced gateway to extend WiFi coverage into hard to reach places in the home.
New residential customers can get Comcast’s gigabit offering for $104.95 per month with no contract, following an introductory offer of $90 per month for one year.
Using DOCSIS 3.1 enables Comcast to deliver increased speeds over its existing network, so customers will need to upgrade to a DOCSIS 3.1-capable modem, but the process is typically self-install.
“We’ve built an innovative high speed data platform that combines speed, coverage and control features and really sets our broadband experience apart from the competition,” says Dana Strong, president of consumer services at Comcast, in a statement.