Comcast on Sept. 8 announced it has begun a nationwide rollout of multi-gigabit internet speeds that will reach more than 50 million homes and businesses within three years. New speeds will be paired with Comcast’s multi-gig Wi-Fi experience, powered by the operator's Wi-Fi 6E Gateways. As part of this initiative, Comcast noted it is accelerating the transformation of its network to a virtualized cloud-based architecture that is fully prepared for 10G and DOCSIS 4.0.
Comcast will begin offering 10G-enabled multi-gig symmetrical services in 2023. Under the new initiative, the company said it is immediately rolling out download speeds up to 2 Gigs, combined with up to 5x-to-10x faster upload speeds, to millions of homes and businesses, available in 34 cities and towns before the end of 2022, and serving more than 50 million homes and businesses by the end of 2025.
Initial rollouts are already underway in Colorado Springs, CO; Augusta, GA; and Panama City Beach, FL, with more launched at a regular cadence through the end of the year.
For the company's Xfinity customers, the new announcement means extending new multi-gigabit network speeds throughout the home with the company'smulti-gig-capable Wi-Fi 6E Gateway, xFi connected home platform, and xFi Pod Wi-Fi extenders. Comcast Business customers will also receive ultra-fast Wi-Fi speeds via a new multi-gig capable gateway.
Comcast said its completion of its core technical foundation for 10G will deliver multi-gig symmetrical speeds over the connections already installed in tens of millions of homes and businesses, while finalizing its transition to a cloud-based, virtualized network that enables faster speeds, greater reliability for customers, while also implementing a network architectural update that enables greater upload and download capacity
The company emphasized that it is building multi-gig capabilities "that can reach everyone connected to Comcast’s network, not just select neighborhoods and customers, just as Comcast has done with previous network improvements."Improving energy efficiency, Comcast added that the network improvements will also help the company become carbon neutral by 2035.
Charlie Herrin, president of Technology, Product, Experience at Comcast Cable, commented, “We’re making our network even smarter and faster, which allows us to quickly deliver true multi-gig Wi-Fi to tens of millions of businesses and residential consumers at an unprecedented pace. Whatever the application, whatever the future holds, our network and world-class, whole-home Wi-Fi experience will be there and ready to power all of our customers’ connected experiences.”