Comcast said it will invest $280 million this year in its Pacific Northwest Region — which encompasses Oregon and Washington. The investment includes network upgrades, network expansion and civic contributions and involvement.
The region serves 2.8 million residential and business customers, Comcast says. More than four million homes and businesses have access to Xfinity and Comcast Business in the two states.
Network Investment
The $280 million will be used to bring multi-gigabit services to more than four million locations and to expand broadband and video to more than 60,000 additional locations. Some of the funding also will go toward donations and in-kind services to Northwest communities.
“Our investment will significantly expand and evolve the availability of the Xfinity 10G network across the Pacific Northwest in 2023,” Comcast said in the blog post.
The cable industry uses the term 10G to encompass a range of infrastructure upgrades, including expanding the spectrum available within the coaxial portion of an HFC network, and deploying DOCSIS 4.0 and distributed access architecture.
The upgrade will set the stage for multi-gigabit services and faster upload speeds. The upgrade process, which will touch on the entire footprint, will largely be invisible to customers because it will rely on existing hybrid fiber coax (HFC) infrastructure, Comcast said.
The first phase of the upgrade is underway. It will enable download and upload speeds of 2 Gbps and 200 Mbps, respectively, to 40% of the region’s footprint by the end of this year.
The blog post mentions Eagle Creek, Estacada, Mt. Angel and Silverton, Oregon and Battleground, Chattaroy, Key Peninsula and Sumas, Washington as examples of the nearly 60,000 homes and businesses that will be added this year. Service was expanded to 54,788 homes and businesses last year.
Local Investments
Comcast says that the $280 million investment will include contributions, foundation grants, free Internet connectivity, employee volunteerism and giving campaigns, broadcast services and laptop donations.
Examples of organizations with which the region will work are Boys & Girls Clubs, Goodwill, the Urban League and the YWCA. It will also include awareness campaigns for Internet Essentials, the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), and other programs.
