Comcast says 2-gig speeds are rolling out now to ‘millions’

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge

By the end of this year, 34 cities in the US will have multi-Gig internet speeds, and by the end of the decade, 50 million households will have access to the service. In Colorado Springs, CO; Augusta, GA; Panama City Beach, FL; and Philadelphia, PA, the company has begun to roll out 2-Gig speeds.

In these cities, customers will be able to take advantage of upload speeds that are five to 10 times faster than what they currently offer. Even with the new plan, the upload speeds seem to max out at 200Mbps. Next year, it will launch multi-Gig symmetrical speeds, which will allow both downloads and uploads.

cable lags behind when it comes to symmetrical uploads and downloads. DOCSIS is a high-bandwidth broadband standard that allows for up to 10Gbps downloads and 6Gbps uploads. During a test in January, the company was able to achieve 4Gbps upload and download speeds.

The service is still limited to users in metro areas even though companies like AT&T and Frontier are expanding their networks. Symmetrical speeds on cable networks are a good option for those in need of a faster connection, but who aren't in areas where fiber is available.

Customers in Colorado Springs, Augusta, Panama City Beach, and Philadelphia won't have to upgrade their modem to get 2 gig speeds. Customers of the cable company will need to upgrade their modem once it rolls out symmetrical services next year, according to an interview with the cable company's executive.

There is a disclosure regarding the investor in the company.