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Comcast Completes Launch of Extreme 50 Mbps High-Speed Internet Service Across Chicago Market

Posted on: Thursday, 27 August 2009, 11:47 CDT

Introduces Two New, Faster Speed Tier Options and Doubles Speeds for Most Existing Customers at No Additional Cost

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast, the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services, today announced it has made the leap from broadband to wideband with the launch of next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 across its systems in Chicagoland, including northwest Indiana. This completes the company's rollout of faster Internet speeds in Chicagoland and northwest Indiana, which began in December 2008.

With wideband, Comcast introduces a new echelon of Internet speed tiers, which redefines the customer experience online and creates a platform for Internet innovation in the years ahead. Wideband allows Comcast to offer among the fastest speeds available today, including the Extreme 50 tier with download speeds of up to 50 Mbps. It also enables Comcast to double speeds for the vast majority of existing high-speed Internet customers at no additional cost.

"Wideband utilizes our existing advanced fiber-optic network in neighborhoods across Chicagoland and northwest Indiana. With this next generation service, our customers' online experience is dramatically enhanced," said LeAnn Talbot, Senior Vice President of Comcast's Greater Chicago Region. "This new service will enable us to continue to offer our customers even faster speeds and an entirely new realm of Internet innovation."

As part of the wideband deployment, Comcast has launched two new premium speed tiers to its residential and business class customers. Both new services are ideal for households or businesses simultaneously using several computers or Internet-connected devices. They also will appeal to those who simply want some of the fastest speeds available today:

New Residential Tiers

• Extreme 50, offering up to 50 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 10 Mbps of upstream speed.
• Ultra, offering up to 22 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 5 Mbps of upstream speed.
  

With Extreme 50, Comcast customers will be able to download a high-definition movie (6 GB) in about 16 minutes, a standard-definition movie (2 GB) in about five minutes and a standard-definition TV show (300 MB) in a matter of seconds. Customers with Extreme 50 also will be able to download digital photos, songs and games faster than ever.

In addition to the new speed tiers, Comcast also is increasing speeds for most of its existing customers.

• 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.
  

Plus, with PowerBoost technology, customers are able to enjoy even faster speeds to download and upload files such as videos, games, music and photos.

New Business Class Tiers

Business customers will also benefit from wideband with increased efficiency and productivity. Customers can sign up for the Deluxe 50 Mbps / 10 Mbps tier, which includes a full suite of features and support. As part of their service, Comcast Business Class customers receive Microsoft Communication Services, providing corporate-class e-mail, calendaring and document sharing, as well as additional benefits such as firewall protection, static IP addresses, multiple e-mail addresses and business class 24/7 customer support. Existing Comcast Business Class customers also will receive complimentary speed increases -- speeds on the Starter tier will be doubled to up to 12 Mbps / 2 Mbps and a new Premium Tier will also be introduced, offering speeds up to 22 Mbps / 5 Mbps.

In addition to Chicagoland and northwest Indiana, wideband technology is now available in other Comcast markets, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, parts of Connecticut, Fort Wayne, parts of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, the Twin Cities and Seattle. Just last month, Comcast announced it had rolled out the new wideband technology to 50 percent of its footprint across the nation, which means that today nearly 25 million homes and businesses can now enjoy one of the fastest Internet services in the country.

For more information on wideband in their neighborhood, customers can visit www.comcast.com/fastestfast or call 1-800-COMCAST.

SOURCE Comcast

Source: PR Newswire

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