Comcast Rolling Out 2-Gbps Symmetrical Internet Access for Consumers in May 2015

Comcast in May 2015 will introduce Gigabit Pro, a new 2-Gbps symmetrical residential Internet access service in  Atlanta, with an expected introduction in additional Comast markets nationwide.

Comcast currently expects the service to be available to about 18 million homes by the end of 2015.

The new speeds are made possible by the DOCSIS 3.1 standard. To give you some idea of the bandwidth required, DOCSIS 3.1 requires availability of two 196-MHz downstream channels (392 MHz total bandwidth downstream) and two 96-MHz upstream channels (total 192 MHz).

Though it seems almost laughable that fixed network bandwidth could grow at rates close to that of Moore’s Law, that seems undeniably to be happening.

That service is not likely to be purchased by many consumers. The Comcast 500-Mbps service now costs about $400 a month, so there is no telling what the price for 2-Gbps might be.

The larger point is that, based simply on historical precedent, widely-available gigabit speeds (which is likely going to be different than the speeds most consumer choose to buy) should be available in the U.S. market by about 2016.

source: CableLabs estimate