Comcast Boosts Broadband Speed in Verizon’s FiOS Markets

5:30 am on March 30, 2006 | Category: Business, Telecom Services

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Competition remains lively in the ongoing battle for broadband customers between Comcast and Verizon.

Comcast is speeding up service for its premiere cable broadband customers in Reston, Virginia; Sarston, Florida; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Howard County, Maryland. Download speeds in these markets will be doubled from 8 to 16 Mbps, while upstream data transmission will be raised from 768 kbps to 1 Mbps. Pricing for the service remains steady at $52.95 per month.

Verizon Communications claims that Comcast has made this move to avoid falling behind in markets where the telecom giant’s fiber optic broadband service is being rolled out.

“It’s a reaction to FiOS,” said Verizon spokeswoman, Bobbi Henson. “Comcast sees the success we have been having, and they are trying to catch up.”

Verizon has just recently started offering FiOS service in these markets, at a cost of $49.95 for data transfer rates of 15 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream.

Comcast, however, denies that Verizon’s FiOS service was the reason for increasing its broadband speeds, claiming that they are priming their network in these markets to test some new applications for broadband customers.

“We chose to test this new high-speed service in markets that are competitive and where we know we have a high level of broadband penetration,” said Comcast spokeswoman, Jeanne Russo. “Reston, Va., was one of the first places where we offered broadband service, and we have 70 percent market penetration there.”

But there is no doubt that cable companies are getting at least a little worry about the fast spread of FiOS technology, and that these worries probably factored in to Comcast’s decision. Ultimately, fiber optic cables not only pose a competitive threat within the broadband business, but could also be used to deliver digital television service.

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    1. Ha… Comcast better get moving I am one of the 1st in my area to have FIOS and it comes recomended over comcast without a doubt. I know of a long list of people ready to switch because of slow connection speeds especially on the weekends when families are home sharing your bandwidth connection.

      If they don’t speed it up in our area FIOS will have taken their market of unhappy customers.

      Then again, based on my experience with FIOS over comcast FIOS is the clear choice in speed & reliablity & price…

      Comment by Jerry — April 18, 2006 #

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