12:10 PM -- Following an initial rollout in the San Jose-Silicon Valley area and portions of the East Bay area in March, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) has launched Docsis 3.0 services to speed-hungry customers in San Francisco. The MSO expects to start selling wideband services in Oakland and the remainder of the Bay Area later this year. (See Bay Area Gets Wideband.)
Like its other wideband markets, Comcast is starting off with a "Extreme" tier that provides downstream speed bursts up to 50 Mbit/s, and up to 10 Mbit/s in the upstream for a hefty $139.95 per month. The next fastest tier offered there is "Ultra," which delivers up to 22 Mbit/s down and 5 Mbit/s up for $62.95.
For now, Comcast is limiting the use of PowerBoost, a technology that gives cable modem subs automatic speed bursts when there's extra capacity on the network, to its single-channel cable modem tiers. Cox Communications Inc. is the only MSO so far to announce the combination of PowerBoost with its new wideband tiers. (See Cox Gives Wideband a 'PowerBoost' and Cox Unleashes Wideband.)
At last check, Comcast had about 40 percent of its plant wired up for Docsis 3.0. It expects to push that to 65 percent by year's end and to all systems by the end of 2010. (See 40%... & Counting.)
— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News