Comcast Rolling Out DOCSIS 3.0

A Light Reading article states Comcast is introducing DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem services in the greater Boston area, in New Jersey, as well as in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where it was originally introduced. This service will be available in three packages:

• Extreme 50 at 50 Mbps downstream for $139.95 per month


• Ultra tier at 22 Mbps downstream for $62.95 per month
  
• Deluxe 50 tier at 50 Mbps downstream targeted to business customers runs $189.95 per month and includes static IP addresses

Comcast said it plans to roll out Docsis 3.0 to more than 10 markets and nearly 10 million homes and businesses in the next several months -- equal to about 20 percent of its U.S. cable footprint. It expects to support Docsis 3.0 on all of its systems by mid-2010

Comcast said that Docsis 3.0 will enable it to offer speeds in excess of 160 Mbps further but hasnot specified when it would launch services with speeds higher than 50 Mbps.

Comcast is now using Docsis 3.0 to compete against Verizon's FiOS fiber service, which is where it is at a competitive disadvantage. These 50 Mbps services should help, but Comcast's pricing is high. You can get 20 Mbps downstream on FiOS for $57.99 and 50 Mbps downstream for $144.95. If I had the choice, I would choose fiber; however existing customers may find Comcast's pricing close enough to keep them from changing to Verizon.