The new service is four times faster than Comcast's previous fastest residential internet access and is delivered through existing wiring but requires a new modem with DOCSIS 3.1 technology, said Rich Jennings, senior vice president of Comcast for Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico and Utah. The regular price for the 1-gigabit service is $159.95, but the Philadelphia-based company is testing the $109.99 promotional price in Colorado Springs and other markets and may test other lower promotional prices in coming months, he said.
"The availability of 1 Gig service to homes throughout Colorado Springs is critical to our continued economic prosperity and growth," Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said Tuesday in a Comcast news release. "Comcast's capacity in providing this 1 gigabit capability through their existing network will enhance broadband access to business and residents throughout our city."
The service - which also launched Wednesday in Northern California, Utah, Kansas City, Houston, Oregon, the Seattle area and southwest Washington - is expected to be a niche product but could appeal to cord cutters who want to stream television programming from multiple sources to multiple devices at the same time, Jennings said. A faster 2-gigabit-per-second service called Gigabit Pro has been available since 2015 in Colorado for customers who operate businesses out of their homes; it costs $299.95 a month and requires a professional installation.
"I don't expect everybody will sign up for this service," he said. "It is a niche product for people who want that kind of speed. People who want to download a lot of high-definition, high-quality movies, or have multiple internet-connected devices are the households that will be interested in this."
Jennings acknowledged that the 1-gigabit service could "serve as a gateway to other (television) providers" that are delivered through the internet but said Comcast has no plans to make its Xfinity Stream internet-based service - only available now with a cable package - a stand-alone product.
Comcast also is expected to soon offer wireless internet amplifiers, called extenders, that plug into electrical sockets to improve residential Wi-Fi service in larger homes by eliminating pockets of poor reception.
©2017 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
