Comcast will roll out new broadband services leveraging DOCSIS 4.0 technology, enabling consumers to access speeds ranging from 300 Mbps to 1 and 2 Gbps.
As a part of the launch, Comcast will introduce a new portfolio of symmetrical products for residential customers. Comcast will begin rolling out DOCSIS 4.0 to select neighborhoods in Colorado Springs, CO, and will launch new markets throughout the country over the next few years. Select areas of Atlanta, GA and Philadelphia, PA, are expected to begin rolling out before the end of this year.
“The ubiquity of our network, which is already accessible to tens of millions of homes, provides us with an incredible opportunity to bring multi-gigabit upload and download speeds to communities across the country with the scale and efficiency that no other provider can replicate,” said Dave Watson, president, and CEO for Comcast Cable. “Our connectivity experience, powered by the Xfinity 10G Network, will allow us to deliver speeds up to 10 Gbps over our traditional network to virtually all our customers, plus even better reliability, lower latency, and the best in-home Wi-Fi coverage.”
Ramping 10G
A big focus for Comcast is enabling 10 G symmetrical services. Today, Comcast offers this service tier over fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) in its markets and will be part of introducing its DOCSIS 4.0 initiative.
New and existing residential customers connected via DOCSIS 4.0 will have access to Comcast’s newly introduced next-generation X-Class Internet portfolio. X-Class speed tiers include X-300 Mbps, X-500 Mbps, X-1 Gbps and X-2 Gbps upload and download speeds and low lag for the ultimate live sports streaming experience on Peacock, smooth connections on work calls, and ultra-responsive gaming.
“The enhancements that we have been making to our network over the past few years have been foundational to creating an award-winning network architecture that is fully virtualized and capable of delivering these exciting capabilities to our customers,” said Elad Nafshi, Chief Network Officer, Comcast Cable.
Focus on full duplex
One of the critical elements of Comcast’s DOCSIS 4.0 drive is using full duplex technology. This technology uses the same network spectrum to dramatically increase upstream speeds without sacrificing downstream speeds.
Comcast’s road to its DOCSIS 4.0 launch has been in the works for a few years. In April 2021, Comcast conducted a live test of full duplex DOCSIS and, later that year, tested a 10G connection from the network to a modem. Then, in 2022, Comcast conducted a live trial and connected a business location in the Philadelphia region to its live network, including a DOCSIS 4.0-enabled 10G node and multiple cable modems. In February 2023, the company announced its latest Xfinity 10G network upgrade launched to 10 million homes and businesses.
In addition to Comcast’s efforts to deploy DOCSIS 4.0 and other 10G upgrades across its footprint, the company continually invests in delivering a superior connectivity experience that is fast and reliable with less latency.
Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.