Comcast confirmed an earlier report and recent scuttlebutt on the DSL Reports message board that the MSO is rolling out a set of speed upgrades that will affect three of its broadband tiers in California, as well as select markets in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.
With the upgrade, the max downstream speed of “Performance” rises from 25 Mbps to 50 Mbps; “Blast” jumps from 50 Mbps to 105 Mbps; and “Extreme” gets bumped from 105 Mbps to 150 Mbps.
Comcast said the upgrades are for all California customers (except those in Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Isleton, Lodi and Rio Vista), and Olathe, Kansas; Independence, Mo.; and Houston, Texas. Comcast implemented similar speed increases in its 14-state Northeast Division in April.
Comcast has not announced when it will enact upgrades in the remaining California systems and its other markets.
The speed increases will go into effect automatically “over the next few days,” or customers can reboot their modems now to get them, Comcast said, noting that some customers might need new hardware to get the increased speeds. Comcast said it has increased Internet speeds 13 times in the last 12 years, noting that 47% of its subs took a tier of 50 Mbps or more by the end of the second quarter.
Comcast added 203,000 high-speed Internet subs in the seconde quarter, extending its total to 21.27 million.
“We continue to deliver the fastest speeds to the most homes so our customers can have a terrific online experience,” said Eric Schaefer, Comcast’s SVP and GM, data and communications services, Comcast, in a statement. “Whether it’s streaming video, gaming or just surfing the web, customers need an Internet provider that can deliver speed and reliability. Plus, since wireless access is becoming just as important as wired service, we also include complimentary access to Xfinity WiFi with most of our Internet service tiers. We currently offer about 3.6 million hotspots with plans to grow to eight million by the end of the year.”
