The DOCSIS 3.0 Era Has Begun

Comcast is officially launching DOCSIS 3.0 service in some Northeast markets. The cable industry refers to DOCSIS 3.0 as wideband. Comcast quotes the era of DOCSIS 3.0 as the evolution of broadband to wideband. Wideband is a direct shot across the bow of Verizon FiOS and other FTTH providers. It also hopes to put the nail in the coffin of DSL, which will have a hard time competing with it. Comcast will offer the service in its Minneapolis, Boston, Philadelphia, and Southern New Hampshire markets. “Comcast plans to continue to roll out wideband across its footprint and expects to reach more than 10 major markets and pass nearly 10 million homes and businesses in the next several months,” says Comcast in a company statement. Comcast will offer the following wideband packages:

• Extreme 50, offering up to 50 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 10 Mbps of upstream speed at $139.95/month.
• Ultra, offering up to 22 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 5 Mbps of upstream speed at $62.95/month.
• Performance tier customers will benefit from doubled downstream and upstream speeds, offering up to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.
• Performance Plus customers will be upgraded to Comcast’s Blast! tier, which will double their download speeds to up to 16 Mbps and provide up to 2 Mbps of upload speed.

“Wideband is a game-changer for the industry. With wideband running over our next-generation fiber-optic network, we can greatly enhance our customers’ online experience immediately. And these speeds are only a preview of what’s to come—wideband will provide the capability of delivering dramatically faster speeds in excess of 160 Mbps in the future,” said Mitch Bowling, SVP and General Manager, Comcast Online Services.