Comcast announced the launch of DOCSIS 3.0 "wideband" Internet access service in New England, including the Extreme 50 tier at up to 50 Mbps. In the next few weeks, the service will be rolled out to homes and businesses in parts of New England, including the Boston Metropolitan region and Southern New Hampshire, as well as areas of Philadelphia and New Jersey. These services also will be available in the Twin Cities where wideband was launched earlier this year. 
Comcast said it 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.
"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.
New Residential Tiers include:
- 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.
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.
New Business Class Tiers
The Deluxe 50 Mbps / 10 Mbps tier is priced at $189.95/month, which includes a full suite of features and support. As part of their service, Comcast Business Class customers receive Microsoft Communications 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 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 also will be introduced, offering speeds up to 22 Mbps / 5 Mbps for only $99.95/month.http://www.comcast.com/fastestfast
